Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu are taking Doctor Who fans on a new journey through time and space in the upcoming season.

The two talked to Blavity/Shadow and Act Managing Editor, Trey Mangum, about the upcoming season, which features Gatwa once again in his history-making role as the Doctor.

Gatwa said that he does feel like he’s started to “gel” into the role thanks to the help of the cast and crew, including writer Russell T. Davies and Millie Gibson, who plays Ruby Sunday.

How does Ncuti Gatwa feel in his second season as the Doctor?

“It feels a little bit more in my skin now, having gone through the process of the whole first season,” he told us. “I think what it’s taught me is it’s taught me authenticity and to be true to myself, to stay true to your own path and to work hard to know where you want to go with something and to stay on the course, not deviate, not let other people’s opinions affect you too much.”

Sethu, who plays new companion Belinda Chandra, talked about how professionally Gatwa handled the intensity of playing a very different Doctor from seasons past.

“It’s quite hard when the franchise is so big, you know,” she said. “It’s so big… there’s so much pressure. He did it beautifully.”

Gatwa also talked about how he reacted to the fandom response after his first season, describing it as “so heartwarming to be embraced into the fandom as we have been. It’s been really beautiful.”

“I think it’s cool to see like a younger generation identify with characters, in terms of like their little quips and banters and stuff like that,” he said. “But specifically for me, it always warms my heart when people of color feel like they can really connect to the show in a way perhaps they maybe didn’t feel before. … I think it’s nice that the notion of the Doctor can be played by anyone or anyone can see themselves in the Doctor… is set now. It’s not a gimmick or anything like that.”

Who is Varada Sethu playing in the new season of ‘Doctor Who’?

Sethu’s foray into the Doctor Who universe comes through her character, who she described as “super-independent.”

“That’s my favorite thing about her,” she said. “… She has her own life that she wants to go back to. She has her own thoughts and opinions on things, and she’s not afraid to say that back to the Doctor. She’s not afraid to hold him accountable. She’s not interested in all of this noise. She wants to go back to her life and her way of living and her purpose that she believed was her way of living.”

“It’s the first nurse and Doctor pairing, which is quite fun,” she added. “I just really, really love the fact that they’re very much equals and they [have to] become this team. They realize that their values are actually very much aligned and there is a very deep love and connection between them. I love that it’s equal.”

The new season of Doctor Who debuts new episodes weekly on Disney+.

Varada Sethu

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