Doctor who star Ncuti Gatwa comes face to face with his on-screen alter ego as a waxwork figure is unveiled at Madame Tussauds
No this is not a glitch in the space-time continuum. Actor Ncuti Gatwa came face to face with his on-screen alter ego, Doctor Who, as he unveiled his waxwork figure and a Whoniverse-inspired set at London’s Madame Tussauds.
After appearing as the Time Lord for one season, the 31-year-old worked in collaboration with makers of the waxwork to be immortalised forever in the statue which will be available to visit from July 19.
Dressed in the Gatwa’s costume from the 2023 Christmas Special episode in which he was first launched as the Doctor Who, the waxwork beams while standing with its right arm pressed against its chest.
The outfit is 1960s inspired with a £140 calf-length leather coat, a striped zip-up cardigan and a £220 pair of trainers from the 155-year-old luxury British brand, Grenson.
When he met the finished product, Gatwa enjoyed interacting with his look-a-like feigning conversation and taking selfies and pictures of it.
Actor Ncuti Gatwa has come face to face with his on-screen alter ego, Doctor Who , as he unveiled his waxwork figure and a Whoniverse-inspired set at London’s Madame Tussauds
After appearing as the Time Lord for one season, the 31-year-old worked in collaboration with makers of the waxwork to be immortalised forever in the statue which will be available to visit from July 19
The wax workers had gone to extraordinary detail, down to chipped polish on his finger nails.
Hailed as the Doctor for a new generation with his extravagant costumes, Gatwa became the first black actor to take on the role.
Russell T Davies, the showrunner, also visited the attraction to unveil the new specially crafted Doctor Who immersive set.
It comes after the show’s future was questioned, despite filming for the fifteenth series already starting, after the fourteenth failed to attract viewers and resulted in ‘underwhelming’ ratings.
An ambitious deal with Disney - rumoured to be worth $100million - meant each episode is aired on BBC iPlayer at midnight on Fridays to appease US viewers before being broadcast on its traditional Saturday teatime slot on terrestrial television.
It meant a slump in viewers overall despite the BBC contract with the American media giant intended to revitalise the show with lavish special effects and Davies, 61, stated the deal would finally put the show, ‘Up there with your Star Wars, your Marvel stuff’.
Instead, the final episode attracted only 2.02million viewers - a sharp drop from Jodie Whittaker’s final outing as the first female Doctor, which was watched by 3.7million in real time.
The highly anticipated season 14 final episode titled Empire Of Death, left Whovians wanting more.
Dressed in the Gatwa’s costume from the 2023 Christmas Special episode in which he was first launched as the Doctor Who, the waxwork beams while standing with its right arm pressed against its chest
The outfit is 1960s inspired with a £140 calf-length leather coat, a striped zip-up cardigan and a £220 pair of trainers from the 155-year-old luxury British brand, Grenson
Hailed as the Doctor for a new generation with his extravagant costumes, Gatwa became the first black actor to take on the role.
Ncuti seemed thrilled with the results as he snapped selfies with the wax work
Its grand ending, which revealed who Ruby's mother is, landed on BBC iPlayer at midnight on Saturday and the episode was broadcast on BBC One at 6.40pm.
But for fans who could not wait for the big reveal, the long painstaking wait proved to be a disappointment.
Flocking to X, formerly known as Twitter, Doctor Who fans shared their devastation of the finals as they were left asking, 'is that it?'
One user penned: 'Rubys mother reveal is probably the worst reveal I've ever seen in this show. So disapointed.'
'I'm sorry but the revelation of who Ruby's mother was, was lame'.
'Was that it?'
Since 2023's Christmas special, the sci-fi series teased the 'mystery' of Ruby Sunday's origins (Millie Gibson).
And across seven episodes, an array of hints were dropped in the storyline as to the identity of Ruby's unknown mother.
But after weeks of anticipation, viewers were largely dissatisfied to learn that Ruby's mother is just an ordinary woman named Louise.
The episode revealed that Louise had left her daughter at the church gates in a panic when she was 15 years old.
But many have slammed the reveal as being hugely anticlimactic.
Previous instalments have portrayed the mysterious mother figure as a haunting, hooded figure.
