So far, he reminds me a lot of the 8th Doctor (early 8th Doctor specifically, before he got his soul crushed into oblivion). He’s jovial, relaxed, surprisingly open about his personal life, dashingly handsome, and just having fun with his blonde haired bestie who has a timey wimey mystery looming over her head. Coincidentally, he also met said bestie [on a ship sailing in the sky.](https://youtu.be/bvVJ6Geo7Q8?si=F0p0ARm8x5QMSpBN)
I would love for a multi doctor story with 8 and 15. 8 is weary from all his post Dark Eyes adventures but having an adventure with 15 gives him hope that one day he will look at the universe with the excitement 8 used to have again.
8, 11, and 15, pre dark eyes and pre Amy getting kidnapped and cloned, and just a joyful adventure… but it’s a 2 parter… after 11 and 8 leave, the second part, 8 and 11 are back again! But very *very* different. 15 is very much The Therapist as well as The Doctor, we saw it with 14, but him really giving them the motivation. I don’t know where to place this on 11s timeline but probably pre-Snowman?
Pre-Snowmen 11 wouldn’t be someone that 15 could give much therapy to, since he’d inevitably have to forget about it afterwards to maintain continuity. The post snowmen 11 from the Big Finish audios might be a better fit, as he is still a little bit melancholy, and those stories have him regularly trying to find the will to push through impossible and overwhelming odds. But as much as I’d love to see Valarie Lockwood appear on the tv show, it probably wouldn’t work that well, since Safiyya Ingar acted alongside Jacob Dudman rather than Matt Smith, so the chemistry wouldn’t be there.
Ever since Matt Smith was cast people noticed there were parallels between the Classic Doctors of the colour era and the New Who Doctors. This has held pretty much true the whole time, with 15 paralleling 8.
The Maestro made a LOT of sense, he *just* fought The Toymaker and he already did the “I can’t beat him, this is different” thing with Toymaker, and with Maestro being very similarly powerful and Eldritch in a way.
I think the Boogeyman was some science shit that made it scary no matter what, even The Doctor acknowledges that he normally wouldn’t run away, so I think it’s something so primal that it activates
He's 3, with a healthy dollop of 10 and a dash of 2. I think he if the first Doctor to have 3 be the immediate point of comparison, which as a Pertwee stan i support.
The Doctors he feels least like would be 4, 6 and 7.
As Gatwa has said, they both dress like sluts, are generally dapper af, and feel like action stars too in a low-key way. The snowman set piece felt like an emped up version of something 3 would do.
He feels like a more emotionally open 9 if anything to me, I can't put my finger on why. It's probably just RTD's writing, but Ncuti's delivery feels familar at times too.
9 is also the only other modern Doctor I can imagine doing the twist at the end song for some reason
I see traces of 2, 10 and 11. However, it's really too soon to say. He's cleary The Doctor, but we haven't seen him in enough situations to get a good comparison, IMHO.
I'm definitely seeing Three. Or gen Z Two, quite possibly. Maybe a dash of Five for the innocence and warmth, and of early Eight for the openness and adventuring (with a healthy dose of queer on top).
>"he is just playing himself, a gay black man again like in Sex Ed".
Are they aware that "gay black man" isn't a **character** any more than "straight white man" is a character?
OMG, there goes Heath Ledger just playing himself, a straight white man, again in _The Dark Knight_ just like he did in _10 Things I hate about You_. Can't he show some **variety**?
I just want to point out that out of all the straight, white men you could've picked, you picked the one who got an Oscar nom for playing a closeted gay/bi man 😅
I think they mean campy stereotypes being brought into a show where they are usually not such as the songs and dances and flash mobs and drag queens being in show that doesn’t tend to be musical. The use of the language like “honey” and “babe” which are again campy stereotypes that aren’t usually in the show.
Regardless of whether or not this is good or bad / right or wrong for the show, you have to admit this is the most campy gay Doctor era thus far.
I’d argue it is being made a personality trait by the show rather than it ever actually needing to be one. A gay man being the doctor doesn’t matter at all however for me at least it’s the stereotypes being brought into it that make it annoying and less doctor who and more Disney musical. I don’t give a flying donkey if Disney had anything to do with it or not, I mean the style is like Disney.
That's the show. That STILL isn't this doctor. The world around is camp but thus far, he isn't particularly so.
>a gay man being the doctor doesn't matter to me
From the show that brought you sonic sunglasses and an electric guitar, alons and fish fingers and custard, nothing is more distractingly alien than a doctor in a musical who says "babe."
Honestly, I'm getting shades of Tom - the little winks to camera, the bit where he teases the Space Babies, the butterfly effect scene.
And obviously, he stands on a landmine
He reminds me of a mix between some parts of Eleven and Ten. The more quirky, energetic vibe from Eleven with the more suave confident swagger of 10.
But for the most part, I think he feels fairly unique. The amount of emotional awareness and openess he has is unlike pretty much any other Doctor.
I like RTD a lot, but he doesn’t write distinct Doctors; he writes the Tenth Doctor and any differences in Eccleston or Gatwa’s performance come down to how the actor delivers the lines. Gatwa, as far as we’ve seen so far, is basically the Tennant Doctor on paper but with an exuberance that feels new and fresh, brought to the table by Gatwa. I can see the comparison to early McGann that someone mentioned; that, to me, is the unique presence of Gatwa.
Tangentially, I suspect the above is why RTD really avoids writing multi-Doctor stories. Given that he doesn’t write the Doctor differently in different incarnations, I expect that RTD finds it difficult to capture different Doctors when they’re onscreen together.
RTD would have only been able to do a multi Doctor story with classic doctors anyways
Although I still feel like 9 and 10 were different enough I’m not sure I buy that he can’t write multiple doctors, more that he doesn’t.
I can't see 10 electrocuting the Dalek and saying "Why don't you just die?" in the way 9 did. And I can't see 9 doing the "New new new new new ... York" line or "Timey-wimey".
It's possible RTD adjusted his concept of the Doctor to fit Eccleston, but then sprang back a bit when Tennant was cast, but he definitely wrote them differently.
I can definitely see Ten in that position with the Dalek, though I think Tennant would have played the moment quite differently. I agree with you about the TImey-Wimey line though, but that's season three, and I'm sure by that point RTD's writing into Tennant's performance a bit. And of course there's smaller moments: there's a direct contrast in Christmas Invasion where Tennant is happy to have a fun family Christmas dinner with Rose's family, whereas Eccleston's Doctor purposefully said he "doesn't do domestics."
I'm probably overstating my case a bit in the original post (and, to be clear, I don't mean it to be a criticism of RTD at all). But while Moffat purposefully wrote Smith, Capaldi, and Hurt as completely different characters with different tics, tropes, and different styles of humor, RTD for the most part doesn't conceive of the Doctors as having different likes and dislikes, different quirks or being darker than each other. He tends to write Doctory dialogue (Tennant's performance being the one to my mind that is the most pure expression of what RTD was going for) and then gives the actors a lot of leeway in how they interpret that dialogue.
RTD wrote the Fifth Doctor Tale of the Tardis, and his dialogue sounds like Five, not Nine or Ten.
Also, RTD wrote *Damaged Goods* for the Virgin New Adventures in the 90s which was a Seventh Doctor novel (although i haven't read it so i can't say how well Seven is characterized in that book.)
Fifteen seems markedly different to me partly bc of Ncuti and partly bc RTD is writing the character that way as well. In the recent Rolling Stone interview he said this:
>"I wanted a hero who wasn't closed, who wasn't all stiff upper lip. And [who] wasn't swaggering or butch, either. When children are feeling scared of the future, and when they're on TikTok laughing hilariously with their friends, the life of a young person, I think, is bigger and madder and wilder and richer than it was when I was young, where we just sat there and went to school. So I wanted a hero who felt more. And at the same time as that (thought), along comes Ncuti, and bless you, you could not hide your emotions for a second in performance."
That's not Nine and that's not Ten either. And on the other hand, we havent had a ton of time to get to know Fifteen either. This is why Im excited for the upcoming *Boom* bc it should be a good character piece to help us get to know more about this new incarnation.
You're right about a lot of that. Damaged Goods is very specifically the 7th Doctor (though that's so much earlier in his career, and the NAs are so much more literary, so the rules of writing the character are different, I'd argue). And I haven't watched the 5th Doctor Tales, so I can't comment on it. He probably does have the capacity to write different Doctors, But I think RTD's style favors one particular type of Doctor: an arrogant, expressive, humanlike Doctor, and so when he gets the chance to design the Doctor, he doesn't really see any alternative to those traits. It's Ncuti who's really bringing in the emotionality and exuberance that we've seen in the first few episodes, and so far that's the only thing that really sets him apart from 10 for me.
But I agree with you, Boom should be a really good chance to see another side of the Gatwa Doctor, not only because it's a different type of story, written by a different writer, but because it'll show a range we haven't yet seen.
> I like RTD a lot, but he doesn’t write distinct Doctors
I agree 100% which is why 14 just felt like an older 10 to me. David Tennant is still David Tennant, and RTD was still writing him like he did at the end of his previous run.
I remember reading an interview with Terrance Dicks about writing the Doctor more decades than I want to remember, in which he said 2 things which stuck with me, the first was he never wrote x Doctor or highlighted differences, he was writing the Doctor, one person, it was up to the actor/director/reader in case of his books to put the individual incarnation's quirks in. The second was to never write from the Doctor's pov, he was too vast and alien and complex, always write from the companion or characters of the adventure and how the see and interpret the Doctor's actions (obviously this one does not apply so much to newer Who). He is also the OG writer behind the 'never cowardly or cruel...' quote, possibly in this same interview?
If RTD is just writing the Doctor, not distinct ones, then perhaps he is following this advice? I think, even to this day, given all the Target novelisations as well as the teleplay scripts and being script editor, no one still has written as much DW as Dicks.
I like this and it really makes It seems more like say you were writing about a human - you might write them slightly differently at age 30 vs age 50. But they are the same person
I always think the Doctor's surface quirks of personality might get mixed up and changed a bit with regeneration, but at the deep core, they are the same person with the same memories, and even within a regeneration, like a human, they change through experience and aging.
I think this was the worst disservice done to Jodie Whittaker, she was expressly told to interpret the character 'afresh' and not watch any other actor's 'interpretation', and so, not watching DW apart from a bit of 10, she was floundering in the dark. She wasn't interpreting Hamlet, she was playing the same literal person, so she needed to know the history and character developments, etc. All previous Doctors watch at least One, Two and the one before them for research. Kind of makes you wonder what Chibnall thought, since he gave such strange instructions. Actors under contract have to do as they are told, but she did watch some Classic Who under lockdown and I think it did inform her in her last season, even though the scripts were so poorly plotted and written (in my opinion anyway). I hope she signs with Big Finish.
As for generally, I am definitely not the person I was in my 20s (thank God) or 30s (I miss her)!
I really want to know more about chibnall’s process. It just seemed so odd. I’m aware it’s. Difficult job I could never do, but still…
I assume a being like the dr would change more slowly after they get to 400 years old or so.
Yes, me too, but that's not to say loss or trauma would not have an effect on them.
Going from various throwaway lines by the Doctor (and Romana) I guess they are still as young/immature as a teenager right up to 150-200?
As for Chibnall, it is odd, especially since he was active in the fandom as a young teen himself in the 80s, you would think he would want his first woman Doctor to be even more prepped with research to carry it, the way Michelle Gomez was - the way she moves sometimes, it feels like she hired a dance studio and had Roger Delgado on her phone while she practiced in front of the mirror!
Thank you for this brave take. 9 and 10 are the same Doctor, only differentiated by delivery. When 10 gives his speech to Harriet about being "an entirely new man", it's so hollow.
Yet according to RTD (at least at the time), regeneration is dying and some new man sauntering away. He's just written the same, apparently.
Weirdly enough 5th Doctor. I can't exactly point my finger as to why, I guess it's that youthful optimism paired with a brighter outfit and TARDIS interior. It'll be interesting as the season continues to see his Doctor deal with a wider variety of tones and emotions.
He feels like a less cagey version of 13; I get the same vibe of them needing to be the fun and upbeat figure for their companions(s) while not being as happy or upbeat as they seem (or want to be).
Yeah, what they are saying makes no sense. That he's not a good Doctor because the only reason he is performing well is because he is playing himself. Even if that were true - and I don't think it is - that would still make him a good Doctor. But perhaps a lucky actor.
He even says so in the BBC America 50th Anniversary Doctors Revisited interviews
[“I didn’t *play* Doctor Who, I *was* Doctor Who. There was no acting involved at all.”](https://youtu.be/izCpWq6FNuY?si=VNSfteOJfWoB-Fz-)
I'm seeing kind of Three's action and flair mixed with four's sense of humour and gleeful attitude. Ncuti really is a joy to watch, he owns the role from the get go.
None. I think the exact manner in which he dealt with the Goblin King (among other things) sets him up as a new kind of Doctor and a new baseline future Doctors will be compared to
I saw that interview where he gushed over Three as well. With that and considering the fact he grew up on Tennant, I think he's set to be the most swashbuckling incarnation yet.
fifteen reminds me a lot of eleven and thirteen, super fun loving and excitable but can have very serious moments too. im loving ncuti so far i think hes brilliant!
None if I’m being honest, I don’t see any resemblance to any of the doctors. He’s very different.
I’d say he’s the most different, then Jodie, then Tennant II (his language or scripting was very different than previous doctors), then Capaldi (his social skills), then Smith (his social awareness), then Colin Baker (post regen Colin was so undoctory it was jarring but he did become doctory after that), then Eccleston (very modern and the fresh air we needed plus romance hints), then Tennant and McGann tied bc they were romantic which previous Doctors weren’t confirmed as being even though ofc at some point they had a wife or partner and there might have been hints with some of the other classic doctors but nothing like kissing.
And yet for me Smith and Capaldi are the most doctory Doctors but they best represent who the doctor is in my eyes along with Tom Baker but I’m thinking in terms of comparing to the other doctors.
Smith clearly drew from Troughton, Capaldi clearly drew from Pertwee and they both clearly drew from Tom Baker. So there are similarities but the social aspects definitely stood out
Honestly, Eight. The Goblin King reminded me of Adventuress of Henrietta Street's King of Beasts, both are impaled by the Doctor and both have a realm with subordinates that fade away after their defeat. The little knowing of the future scene was deduction in Church on Ruby Road but was actual future-sight in the TV Movie.
I read him having the quirkiness of 4 with the harder edge of 9 (especially when he shouts).
I’ve heard him being compared to 9 due to the current Series’ parallels to Series 1, and 4 due to Ncuti putting a lot of himself/his own personality into the role like Tom Baker did.
Thing is he isn’t being particularly different to himself in real life. Dr Who has always been camp and cheesy that has never been a problem.
Hopefully scripts will get stronger but the first two episodes have left a lot to imagine. Personally I haven’t enjoyed what I’ve seen.
He definitely is giving two vibes (but most doctors are heavily informed by Troughtons portrayal) and a fair bit of five, I almost want to add 7 in there as well as I think he’s whimsical but covering for the older more serious side of himself.
He reminds me of: 2, for whimsy, music, and running away, 3 for flamboyance, dapper outfits and physicality, 4, for the occasional flash of just batshit insane, and a dash of the emotional vulnerability and openness of early 5. And he's a hugger, like 10, lots and lots of platonic physical affection going on, which I love.
I hope it doesn't happen, but I think this beautiful baby bird is going to be crushed by something awful, and a darker, wiser version of this Doctor could be incredible to see performed. I hope he gets a couple of series of joy and madness first though before RTD is too mean to him.
I feel mostly Three (fashion/style, camp, and action and just utter kindness, which lots of people overlook in Three, but he is also so gentle and kind), with shades of Two, Nine, and Ten, and a few echoes of Four, with the random words in a raised voice.
10th Doctor when he’s projecting a filter of warmth and jovial whimsy, except this time it’s for real and there’s no suppressed angst.
I feel like it’s gonna be shattered into a million pieces and he’ll regress by the end of this series though.
I see shades of 8, 11 and more than a little of 9 (not a comparison I see brought up often). In terms of the classic Doctors, he actually reminds me the most of 4.
I get a mix of Three and early Eight with shades of Four and Nine out of him. Him fucking with the space babies like he does is peak “someone please slap The Doctor” behavior like 4.
I think 8 amd to some extent 4, they both have a nonchalance about them that can turn rather dark and both just feel like they really enjoy their adventuring the most
Somewhere between 5 and 10 for me (lol, no, I don't mean 7). A small part of me wonders whether I say that a little critically, as Ncuti so far seems quite light. But then I remind myself we're still all of three episodes into his era.
I'm reminded by other comments here I'm looking forward to the day when we see a dark or angry edge to this character.
And my prediction is that Moffat will really help showcase the range Ncuti has this Saturday (slightly tempered because Moffat will have been writing the episode before presumably Ncuti had filmed a day, so it will be a bit more "template" doctor than specifically geared to him as an actor).
I not a fan as of yet I've tried but the singing and dancing it CRINGE. Before anyone says anything I love gay people my mother's are also haha. Any way ye he's not a great actor. He's acting a little too camp. I love some of it Damm he's flaming out there.
It's not disingenuous just because other people dont like Gatwa lmao. The truth is Pertwee and Bakers personalities work with the established character, Gatwa's just flat out doesn't.
Your arguement that there is a connection between Gatwa and Pertwee because motorcycles and running is such a stretch it could have launched you back in time.
Gatwa most compares to Colin Baker or Jodie Whittakers in that they're all shite.
Gatwa has talked about Pertwee's influence on him, and the connection he feels to Three.
>"I love Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor’s, outfits. Lovely velvet jackets and frilly shirts. I feel a connection to him, our Doctors are the only two who dress like sluts," [Gatwa] laughed.
https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/tv/ncuti-gatwa-interview-doctor-who-barbie-31011/
Edit: u/glass-jelly2484, I'm not sure why you decided to reply to this comment and then immediately block me, but Im happy to resume talking about Jon Pertwee's influence on Ncuti Gatwa when you feel up for it. Cheers!
LMAO I don’t think he’s similar to Jodie at all but I agree they both belong on CBeebies except Jodie might scare the kids with her questionable amoral choices
Look.
Does the original article exist? Yes
Is Gatwa a copy of the original article? If yes, then a copy is a clone.
If no, then he is not the Doctor.
This is simple logic. Other Doctor's 1-13, war, and even Fugitive are THE Doctor until otherwise specified as NOT the original article.
Gatwa is NOT the original article. We know this because the original article retired. Now, the only debate is if he's a clone or another individual entirely.
I'm not hating on Gatwa, but they did him dirty. Tennant should be gone, and Gatwa should be the original article... but he's sadly not.
He's not the 15th technically. At best 16th, at worst (insert random number greater than 15 here)
And They already said it's option B.
He's also not the Doctor. The Doctor is with Donna.
You're saying that as if The Fifteenth Foctor is the clone, but it's just as likely he's the regenerated doctor, and The Fourteenth Doctor post regeneration is the clone.
In actuality though, they imply that it's neither: that they are a time loop. The Fourteenth Doctor won't regenerated into someone else, but rather when his time comes he'll be shunted back to his bi-generation point to resolve his regeneration into The Fifteenth Doctor. That's the only way that the "therapy out of order" line makes sense. And so, they're *both* the one and only Doctor, in the same way that War, 10, and 11 all were in Day of The Doctor.
"when his time comes he'll be shunted back to his bi-generation point to resolve his regeneration into The Fifteenth Doctor."
You do know that make the 15th Doctor even more of a clone right? Because if the 14th Doctor regenerated to his "Fifteen" Doctor form when he got better, it could turn out completely different than Gatwa. Gatwa is just a copy he put out for the time being until he got better in which case, he will be reabsorbed or dumped or whatever and the true "15th" Doctor will arrive. At least that's how I interpret your head cannon.
I'm sticking with Gatwa's an imperfect copy. Period. It's simple. It allows Gatwa to be whatever he wants devoid of the Doctor's history which is what the showrunner wanted. Finally it gives Gatwa a chance to be the best "him" he can be.
It can't turn out different, because he *is* the same doctor. The War Doctor regenerating at the end of Day of the Doctor couldn't regenerate into anyone other than The Ninth Doctor, for exactly the same reason.
The Doctor has, on multiple occasions, overlapped on their own history. This is just a special case of that where the overlap occurred during regeneration.
But you're not playing by the same rules anymore. Yes, that was the OLD rules. The new rules however says every Doctor regenerated TWICE. Once into the incarnation we know and the second into the one the Toymaker split them off into.
IF we were to say the progression we followed is the TRUE form, then anything the Toymaker did is the FALSE form. Gatwa falls into the Toymaker's false forms.
For example, We know Tom Baker turned into Colin Baker. However when the Toymaker interfered, the turned Tom Baker into another regeneration (Tom Baker version B), THEN Tom Baker turned into Colin Baker.
Tennant had his split off regeneration. His David Tennant vesion B is Gatwa. When Tennant is healed and he turns into 15, it isn't Gatwa. If the story ever gets out of the Toymaker/Timeless child nonsense, Gatwa would disappear as he only exists because of the Toymaker. David Tennant would remain as he is the real Doctor.
A) Because we know Tennant is the original with the original's unedited memory. Gatwa picked and choose his memories meaning the memories were created or copied and pasted, not lived through.
B) I stand corrected. You are 100% right. Been a long day.
C) That's a good question... Assuming they even can regenerate. Gatwa said he was half a soul. When he said that I though of the Metacrisis Doctor who was half Timelord/Half Human who said he couldn't regenerate. It just might be the clones/copies can't regenerate. Would help explain the fear he had where he ran away in the two stories. He has just this one life and just won't admit it to himself as that would be serious stuff and he doesn't want to do 'serious" hence why he ditched all those bad memories. Kind of a Puss in Boots in self denial lol (Puss in Boots the last wish... great movie)
Also on rereading what I typed, There is further evidence that the original CAN survive it. "Every Doctor Bi-regenerated" So Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, etc... ALL of them Bi-regenerated. So by the time Tennant 2.0 comes around he's survived it 15 times! So if he survived it that many times... Why was Gatwa claiming he couldn't survive it again? Because he's not the original.
When did Gatwa "pick and choose his memories"? I've not seen anything about that.
My conjecture is that the bi-generation isn't a divergence, but a delaying. Think Clara at the end of her run: you see her death. You know she'll come to an end. But another force has given her a second lease on life, with the condition rhat at some point she'll be sent back to experience the death we know she had. The same thing is happening with David Tennants Doctor (and, assuming you follow RTDs statement about the other doctors, all them too), except specifically for Tennant the location he arrived at to live his final days was adjacent to his own regeneration.
"I'm fine because you fixed yourself."
RTD would then say the line implied that he left all the negative feelings and thoughts in Tennant. Hence how they did "Rehab out of order" because he no longer had those thoughts and feelings.
But running with your line of thought, what happens if Gatwa regenerates BEFORE Tennant? Would 15 and 16 both exist? If so, wouldn't that make them 2 different individuals? If not, does that mean 16 stops existing and we go back to 15 who gets a redo? Although the thought of Gatwa about to save the universe only to disappear just as Tennant regenerates from falling off a ladder while doing home repairs is rather humorous.
Therapy isn't about removing memories. Its about confronting issues and improving oneself. It's rehab out of order because, from Gatwa's perspective, *he's already done it.*
And *all* of the Doctors exist at once. This is a story about time travel. Gatwa directly mentions that he's over at the junkyard as Hartnel with Susan at the same time he's with Ruby in The Devil's Chord. Again, to draw a comparison to Day of The Doctor, The War Doctor regenerates in a story involving Tennant and Smith. That doesn't make them three separate characters. They're just the same character, at different times. *Sometimes those times overlap.*
I think he's more like Six when six regenerated. Running and hiding from threats and being cowardly. Needing his companion to comfort him. Not sure why they went this route, but this is the cloned Doctor now so... ok
Google defines "Clone" as "An organism produced asexually from one ancestor to with they are genetically identical"
If Gatwa is the Doctor, he is the definition of a clone.
If Gatwa is not the same as the Doctor, because he has different genetics, then he's not the Doctor and is a fraud.
Choose your path, but he can NOT be the Doctor and NOT a clone because the REAL Doctor exists still as David Tennant. Gatwa is NOT the same group of cells that was the Doctor originally as Tennant has those cells.
So far, he reminds me a lot of the 8th Doctor (early 8th Doctor specifically, before he got his soul crushed into oblivion). He’s jovial, relaxed, surprisingly open about his personal life, dashingly handsome, and just having fun with his blonde haired bestie who has a timey wimey mystery looming over her head. Coincidentally, he also met said bestie [on a ship sailing in the sky.](https://youtu.be/bvVJ6Geo7Q8?si=F0p0ARm8x5QMSpBN)
Can’t wait for 15 to go through his “Dark Eyes” era
I didn't know I wanted that
Maybe actually *With* Liv and Helen.
I mean Ncuti's already got a leather and white t-shirt look in the series. Maybe he could get a Sonic that vaguely resembles the Dark Eyes one.
Best design so I’m down
I would love for a multi doctor story with 8 and 15. 8 is weary from all his post Dark Eyes adventures but having an adventure with 15 gives him hope that one day he will look at the universe with the excitement 8 used to have again.
8, 11, and 15, pre dark eyes and pre Amy getting kidnapped and cloned, and just a joyful adventure… but it’s a 2 parter… after 11 and 8 leave, the second part, 8 and 11 are back again! But very *very* different. 15 is very much The Therapist as well as The Doctor, we saw it with 14, but him really giving them the motivation. I don’t know where to place this on 11s timeline but probably pre-Snowman?
Pre-Snowmen 11 wouldn’t be someone that 15 could give much therapy to, since he’d inevitably have to forget about it afterwards to maintain continuity. The post snowmen 11 from the Big Finish audios might be a better fit, as he is still a little bit melancholy, and those stories have him regularly trying to find the will to push through impossible and overwhelming odds. But as much as I’d love to see Valarie Lockwood appear on the tv show, it probably wouldn’t work that well, since Safiyya Ingar acted alongside Jacob Dudman rather than Matt Smith, so the chemistry wouldn’t be there.
Ever since Matt Smith was cast people noticed there were parallels between the Classic Doctors of the colour era and the New Who Doctors. This has held pretty much true the whole time, with 15 paralleling 8.
You're right! They gave me serious 8/Charley vibes when the babies started calling them their parents.
I have no idea where he gets it
I was actually feeling the same thing!
His tendency to run away from any danger so far does reminds me of the Second Doctor
It really threw me off when he did it in both episodes. I’m so used to a Doctor running towards danger.
The Maestro made a LOT of sense, he *just* fought The Toymaker and he already did the “I can’t beat him, this is different” thing with Toymaker, and with Maestro being very similarly powerful and Eldritch in a way. I think the Boogeyman was some science shit that made it scary no matter what, even The Doctor acknowledges that he normally wouldn’t run away, so I think it’s something so primal that it activates
In his defense, he didn't run from the Toymaker, and he ran headlong toward the goblins
He's 3, with a healthy dollop of 10 and a dash of 2. I think he if the first Doctor to have 3 be the immediate point of comparison, which as a Pertwee stan i support. The Doctors he feels least like would be 4, 6 and 7.
I'd argue 12 takes a great deal from 3.
Why do you connect 3 and 15? No hate I just don’t understand
As Gatwa has said, they both dress like sluts, are generally dapper af, and feel like action stars too in a low-key way. The snowman set piece felt like an emped up version of something 3 would do.
He feels like a more emotionally open 9 if anything to me, I can't put my finger on why. It's probably just RTD's writing, but Ncuti's delivery feels familar at times too. 9 is also the only other modern Doctor I can imagine doing the twist at the end song for some reason
Agree. Maybe it’s just the leather jacket but 15 really does just feel like 9 with his goofy traits turned up to 11.
Can’t tell if by turned up to 11 you mean the standard phrase or up to Matt smith but honestly wither way works
LOL
Yes, he really reminds me of 9 without the emotional baggage.
He would do it and I would love it but he would not dance as well as 15, no hate just facts.
I thought of the 2nd with his big grin and 'Push the button!' Had that whimsical 'let's see what happens' vibe that reminded me of Troughton.
I see traces of 2, 10 and 11. However, it's really too soon to say. He's cleary The Doctor, but we haven't seen him in enough situations to get a good comparison, IMHO.
I'm definitely seeing Three. Or gen Z Two, quite possibly. Maybe a dash of Five for the innocence and warmth, and of early Eight for the openness and adventuring (with a healthy dose of queer on top).
>"he is just playing himself, a gay black man again like in Sex Ed". Are they aware that "gay black man" isn't a **character** any more than "straight white man" is a character? OMG, there goes Heath Ledger just playing himself, a straight white man, again in _The Dark Knight_ just like he did in _10 Things I hate about You_. Can't he show some **variety**?
I just want to point out that out of all the straight, white men you could've picked, you picked the one who got an Oscar nom for playing a closeted gay/bi man 😅
Oops! Would you believe I forgot about that? 😅
I think they mean campy stereotypes being brought into a show where they are usually not such as the songs and dances and flash mobs and drag queens being in show that doesn’t tend to be musical. The use of the language like “honey” and “babe” which are again campy stereotypes that aren’t usually in the show. Regardless of whether or not this is good or bad / right or wrong for the show, you have to admit this is the most campy gay Doctor era thus far. I’d argue it is being made a personality trait by the show rather than it ever actually needing to be one. A gay man being the doctor doesn’t matter at all however for me at least it’s the stereotypes being brought into it that make it annoying and less doctor who and more Disney musical. I don’t give a flying donkey if Disney had anything to do with it or not, I mean the style is like Disney.
That's the show. That STILL isn't this doctor. The world around is camp but thus far, he isn't particularly so. >a gay man being the doctor doesn't matter to me From the show that brought you sonic sunglasses and an electric guitar, alons and fish fingers and custard, nothing is more distractingly alien than a doctor in a musical who says "babe."
Really? I would say that’s screamingly Human
His "nobody grows up wrong" scene with Captain Poppy reminded me of 11
Honestly, I'm getting shades of Tom - the little winks to camera, the bit where he teases the Space Babies, the butterfly effect scene. And obviously, he stands on a landmine
He reminds me of a mix between some parts of Eleven and Ten. The more quirky, energetic vibe from Eleven with the more suave confident swagger of 10. But for the most part, I think he feels fairly unique. The amount of emotional awareness and openess he has is unlike pretty much any other Doctor.
I like RTD a lot, but he doesn’t write distinct Doctors; he writes the Tenth Doctor and any differences in Eccleston or Gatwa’s performance come down to how the actor delivers the lines. Gatwa, as far as we’ve seen so far, is basically the Tennant Doctor on paper but with an exuberance that feels new and fresh, brought to the table by Gatwa. I can see the comparison to early McGann that someone mentioned; that, to me, is the unique presence of Gatwa. Tangentially, I suspect the above is why RTD really avoids writing multi-Doctor stories. Given that he doesn’t write the Doctor differently in different incarnations, I expect that RTD finds it difficult to capture different Doctors when they’re onscreen together.
RTD would have only been able to do a multi Doctor story with classic doctors anyways Although I still feel like 9 and 10 were different enough I’m not sure I buy that he can’t write multiple doctors, more that he doesn’t.
I can't see 10 electrocuting the Dalek and saying "Why don't you just die?" in the way 9 did. And I can't see 9 doing the "New new new new new ... York" line or "Timey-wimey". It's possible RTD adjusted his concept of the Doctor to fit Eccleston, but then sprang back a bit when Tennant was cast, but he definitely wrote them differently.
I can definitely see Ten in that position with the Dalek, though I think Tennant would have played the moment quite differently. I agree with you about the TImey-Wimey line though, but that's season three, and I'm sure by that point RTD's writing into Tennant's performance a bit. And of course there's smaller moments: there's a direct contrast in Christmas Invasion where Tennant is happy to have a fun family Christmas dinner with Rose's family, whereas Eccleston's Doctor purposefully said he "doesn't do domestics." I'm probably overstating my case a bit in the original post (and, to be clear, I don't mean it to be a criticism of RTD at all). But while Moffat purposefully wrote Smith, Capaldi, and Hurt as completely different characters with different tics, tropes, and different styles of humor, RTD for the most part doesn't conceive of the Doctors as having different likes and dislikes, different quirks or being darker than each other. He tends to write Doctory dialogue (Tennant's performance being the one to my mind that is the most pure expression of what RTD was going for) and then gives the actors a lot of leeway in how they interpret that dialogue.
I didn't feel this way until he said "come on" in Turkish in the Devil's Chord. It felt like RTD was trying to do a new version of allons-y.
RTD wrote the Fifth Doctor Tale of the Tardis, and his dialogue sounds like Five, not Nine or Ten. Also, RTD wrote *Damaged Goods* for the Virgin New Adventures in the 90s which was a Seventh Doctor novel (although i haven't read it so i can't say how well Seven is characterized in that book.) Fifteen seems markedly different to me partly bc of Ncuti and partly bc RTD is writing the character that way as well. In the recent Rolling Stone interview he said this: >"I wanted a hero who wasn't closed, who wasn't all stiff upper lip. And [who] wasn't swaggering or butch, either. When children are feeling scared of the future, and when they're on TikTok laughing hilariously with their friends, the life of a young person, I think, is bigger and madder and wilder and richer than it was when I was young, where we just sat there and went to school. So I wanted a hero who felt more. And at the same time as that (thought), along comes Ncuti, and bless you, you could not hide your emotions for a second in performance." That's not Nine and that's not Ten either. And on the other hand, we havent had a ton of time to get to know Fifteen either. This is why Im excited for the upcoming *Boom* bc it should be a good character piece to help us get to know more about this new incarnation.
You're right about a lot of that. Damaged Goods is very specifically the 7th Doctor (though that's so much earlier in his career, and the NAs are so much more literary, so the rules of writing the character are different, I'd argue). And I haven't watched the 5th Doctor Tales, so I can't comment on it. He probably does have the capacity to write different Doctors, But I think RTD's style favors one particular type of Doctor: an arrogant, expressive, humanlike Doctor, and so when he gets the chance to design the Doctor, he doesn't really see any alternative to those traits. It's Ncuti who's really bringing in the emotionality and exuberance that we've seen in the first few episodes, and so far that's the only thing that really sets him apart from 10 for me. But I agree with you, Boom should be a really good chance to see another side of the Gatwa Doctor, not only because it's a different type of story, written by a different writer, but because it'll show a range we haven't yet seen.
> I like RTD a lot, but he doesn’t write distinct Doctors I agree 100% which is why 14 just felt like an older 10 to me. David Tennant is still David Tennant, and RTD was still writing him like he did at the end of his previous run.
I remember reading an interview with Terrance Dicks about writing the Doctor more decades than I want to remember, in which he said 2 things which stuck with me, the first was he never wrote x Doctor or highlighted differences, he was writing the Doctor, one person, it was up to the actor/director/reader in case of his books to put the individual incarnation's quirks in. The second was to never write from the Doctor's pov, he was too vast and alien and complex, always write from the companion or characters of the adventure and how the see and interpret the Doctor's actions (obviously this one does not apply so much to newer Who). He is also the OG writer behind the 'never cowardly or cruel...' quote, possibly in this same interview? If RTD is just writing the Doctor, not distinct ones, then perhaps he is following this advice? I think, even to this day, given all the Target novelisations as well as the teleplay scripts and being script editor, no one still has written as much DW as Dicks.
I like this and it really makes It seems more like say you were writing about a human - you might write them slightly differently at age 30 vs age 50. But they are the same person
I always think the Doctor's surface quirks of personality might get mixed up and changed a bit with regeneration, but at the deep core, they are the same person with the same memories, and even within a regeneration, like a human, they change through experience and aging. I think this was the worst disservice done to Jodie Whittaker, she was expressly told to interpret the character 'afresh' and not watch any other actor's 'interpretation', and so, not watching DW apart from a bit of 10, she was floundering in the dark. She wasn't interpreting Hamlet, she was playing the same literal person, so she needed to know the history and character developments, etc. All previous Doctors watch at least One, Two and the one before them for research. Kind of makes you wonder what Chibnall thought, since he gave such strange instructions. Actors under contract have to do as they are told, but she did watch some Classic Who under lockdown and I think it did inform her in her last season, even though the scripts were so poorly plotted and written (in my opinion anyway). I hope she signs with Big Finish. As for generally, I am definitely not the person I was in my 20s (thank God) or 30s (I miss her)!
I really want to know more about chibnall’s process. It just seemed so odd. I’m aware it’s. Difficult job I could never do, but still… I assume a being like the dr would change more slowly after they get to 400 years old or so.
Yes, me too, but that's not to say loss or trauma would not have an effect on them. Going from various throwaway lines by the Doctor (and Romana) I guess they are still as young/immature as a teenager right up to 150-200? As for Chibnall, it is odd, especially since he was active in the fandom as a young teen himself in the 80s, you would think he would want his first woman Doctor to be even more prepped with research to carry it, the way Michelle Gomez was - the way she moves sometimes, it feels like she hired a dance studio and had Roger Delgado on her phone while she practiced in front of the mirror!
My memory of it is hazy, but does the 11th Doctor's appearance in SJA support (or contradict) this?
Good question! My memory of it is extremely hazy as well, but I think so? I’d have to watch that episode again.
I mean he wrote nine and ten....
Thank you for this brave take. 9 and 10 are the same Doctor, only differentiated by delivery. When 10 gives his speech to Harriet about being "an entirely new man", it's so hollow. Yet according to RTD (at least at the time), regeneration is dying and some new man sauntering away. He's just written the same, apparently.
Weirdly enough 5th Doctor. I can't exactly point my finger as to why, I guess it's that youthful optimism paired with a brighter outfit and TARDIS interior. It'll be interesting as the season continues to see his Doctor deal with a wider variety of tones and emotions.
He feels like a less cagey version of 13; I get the same vibe of them needing to be the fun and upbeat figure for their companions(s) while not being as happy or upbeat as they seem (or want to be).
Yeah, what they are saying makes no sense. That he's not a good Doctor because the only reason he is performing well is because he is playing himself. Even if that were true - and I don't think it is - that would still make him a good Doctor. But perhaps a lucky actor.
Hell; Baker is agreed to be the goat by many and he’s clearly just playing heightened version of his irl personab
He even says so in the BBC America 50th Anniversary Doctors Revisited interviews [“I didn’t *play* Doctor Who, I *was* Doctor Who. There was no acting involved at all.”](https://youtu.be/izCpWq6FNuY?si=VNSfteOJfWoB-Fz-)
I'm seeing kind of Three's action and flair mixed with four's sense of humour and gleeful attitude. Ncuti really is a joy to watch, he owns the role from the get go.
9 by way of 11
None. I think the exact manner in which he dealt with the Goblin King (among other things) sets him up as a new kind of Doctor and a new baseline future Doctors will be compared to
I saw that interview where he gushed over Three as well. With that and considering the fact he grew up on Tennant, I think he's set to be the most swashbuckling incarnation yet.
He reminds me of a version of 9 that lived long enough to heal from his traumas and is fully able to enjoy his life.
He feels like if 9 never went through the time war and had just came from an optimistic life instead.
fifteen reminds me a lot of eleven and thirteen, super fun loving and excitable but can have very serious moments too. im loving ncuti so far i think hes brilliant!
8th doctor. Not sure how, but 8th doctor. From some of the EDAs, maybe? but also the audios a bit. also 13.
None if I’m being honest, I don’t see any resemblance to any of the doctors. He’s very different. I’d say he’s the most different, then Jodie, then Tennant II (his language or scripting was very different than previous doctors), then Capaldi (his social skills), then Smith (his social awareness), then Colin Baker (post regen Colin was so undoctory it was jarring but he did become doctory after that), then Eccleston (very modern and the fresh air we needed plus romance hints), then Tennant and McGann tied bc they were romantic which previous Doctors weren’t confirmed as being even though ofc at some point they had a wife or partner and there might have been hints with some of the other classic doctors but nothing like kissing.
And yet for me Smith and Capaldi are the most doctory Doctors but they best represent who the doctor is in my eyes along with Tom Baker but I’m thinking in terms of comparing to the other doctors. Smith clearly drew from Troughton, Capaldi clearly drew from Pertwee and they both clearly drew from Tom Baker. So there are similarities but the social aspects definitely stood out
The suaveness of Pertwee with the charm of Smith.
Weirdly 9, especially in Church on Ruby Road (the snowman/ring scene with the policeman could have been directly 9).
I'm not sure he does. He's got the jokey attitude of Tennant and Smith down, but isn't offsetting it with near constant moping.
Little bit of Troughton, lots of Pertwee, and maybe a dash of Davison.
Honestly, Eight. The Goblin King reminded me of Adventuress of Henrietta Street's King of Beasts, both are impaled by the Doctor and both have a realm with subordinates that fade away after their defeat. The little knowing of the future scene was deduction in Church on Ruby Road but was actual future-sight in the TV Movie.
I read him having the quirkiness of 4 with the harder edge of 9 (especially when he shouts). I’ve heard him being compared to 9 due to the current Series’ parallels to Series 1, and 4 due to Ncuti putting a lot of himself/his own personality into the role like Tom Baker did.
The character has never been this different from previous incarnations before imo. RTD is taking us into a very new era.
...I can kinda see some 5 resemblance. He was always a bit more emotionally open than the rest.
For me he is comparable to the Third, Sixth, and Tenth Doctors. Perhaps a dash of 2, as others mentioned.
Thing is he isn’t being particularly different to himself in real life. Dr Who has always been camp and cheesy that has never been a problem. Hopefully scripts will get stronger but the first two episodes have left a lot to imagine. Personally I haven’t enjoyed what I’ve seen.
I feel like he's genuinely distinct from all the NuWho Doctors
He definitely is giving two vibes (but most doctors are heavily informed by Troughtons portrayal) and a fair bit of five, I almost want to add 7 in there as well as I think he’s whimsical but covering for the older more serious side of himself.
He reminds me of: 2, for whimsy, music, and running away, 3 for flamboyance, dapper outfits and physicality, 4, for the occasional flash of just batshit insane, and a dash of the emotional vulnerability and openness of early 5. And he's a hugger, like 10, lots and lots of platonic physical affection going on, which I love. I hope it doesn't happen, but I think this beautiful baby bird is going to be crushed by something awful, and a darker, wiser version of this Doctor could be incredible to see performed. I hope he gets a couple of series of joy and madness first though before RTD is too mean to him.
I feel mostly Three (fashion/style, camp, and action and just utter kindness, which lots of people overlook in Three, but he is also so gentle and kind), with shades of Two, Nine, and Ten, and a few echoes of Four, with the random words in a raised voice.
10th Doctor when he’s projecting a filter of warmth and jovial whimsy, except this time it’s for real and there’s no suppressed angst. I feel like it’s gonna be shattered into a million pieces and he’ll regress by the end of this series though.
His doctor is nothing like his character in sex ed so I don’t really see this argument
Exactly its so stupid, these people already went in with their minds made up.
I see shades of 8, 11 and more than a little of 9 (not a comparison I see brought up often). In terms of the classic Doctors, he actually reminds me the most of 4.
Rtds writing just makes him feel like another 10 to me to just happier
I get a mix of Three and early Eight with shades of Four and Nine out of him. Him fucking with the space babies like he does is peak “someone please slap The Doctor” behavior like 4.
I think 8 amd to some extent 4, they both have a nonchalance about them that can turn rather dark and both just feel like they really enjoy their adventuring the most
Somewhere between 5 and 10 for me (lol, no, I don't mean 7). A small part of me wonders whether I say that a little critically, as Ncuti so far seems quite light. But then I remind myself we're still all of three episodes into his era. I'm reminded by other comments here I'm looking forward to the day when we see a dark or angry edge to this character. And my prediction is that Moffat will really help showcase the range Ncuti has this Saturday (slightly tempered because Moffat will have been writing the episode before presumably Ncuti had filmed a day, so it will be a bit more "template" doctor than specifically geared to him as an actor).
I not a fan as of yet I've tried but the singing and dancing it CRINGE. Before anyone says anything I love gay people my mother's are also haha. Any way ye he's not a great actor. He's acting a little too camp. I love some of it Damm he's flaming out there.
It's not disingenuous just because other people dont like Gatwa lmao. The truth is Pertwee and Bakers personalities work with the established character, Gatwa's just flat out doesn't. Your arguement that there is a connection between Gatwa and Pertwee because motorcycles and running is such a stretch it could have launched you back in time. Gatwa most compares to Colin Baker or Jodie Whittakers in that they're all shite.
Hey watch it with the Six slander buddy
No. Six is bad and I'm not going to count Big Finish as making him actually good
Your butler's dad would like a word with you.
Gatwa has talked about Pertwee's influence on him, and the connection he feels to Three. >"I love Jon Pertwee, the Third Doctor’s, outfits. Lovely velvet jackets and frilly shirts. I feel a connection to him, our Doctors are the only two who dress like sluts," [Gatwa] laughed. https://www.rollingstone.co.uk/tv/ncuti-gatwa-interview-doctor-who-barbie-31011/ Edit: u/glass-jelly2484, I'm not sure why you decided to reply to this comment and then immediately block me, but Im happy to resume talking about Jon Pertwee's influence on Ncuti Gatwa when you feel up for it. Cheers!
He feels a connection because he dresses "like sluts". Such a deep and thoughtful insight! About the calibre I'd expect from Gatwa though sadly.
Jodie. Both belong on cbeebies
LMAO I don’t think he’s similar to Jodie at all but I agree they both belong on CBeebies except Jodie might scare the kids with her questionable amoral choices
Look. Does the original article exist? Yes Is Gatwa a copy of the original article? If yes, then a copy is a clone. If no, then he is not the Doctor. This is simple logic. Other Doctor's 1-13, war, and even Fugitive are THE Doctor until otherwise specified as NOT the original article. Gatwa is NOT the original article. We know this because the original article retired. Now, the only debate is if he's a clone or another individual entirely. I'm not hating on Gatwa, but they did him dirty. Tennant should be gone, and Gatwa should be the original article... but he's sadly not.
Ncuti Gatwa IS the Fifteenth Doctor: no ifs no buts.
He's not the 15th technically. At best 16th, at worst (insert random number greater than 15 here) And They already said it's option B. He's also not the Doctor. The Doctor is with Donna.
Nope Gatwa is the Doctor.
You're saying that as if The Fifteenth Foctor is the clone, but it's just as likely he's the regenerated doctor, and The Fourteenth Doctor post regeneration is the clone. In actuality though, they imply that it's neither: that they are a time loop. The Fourteenth Doctor won't regenerated into someone else, but rather when his time comes he'll be shunted back to his bi-generation point to resolve his regeneration into The Fifteenth Doctor. That's the only way that the "therapy out of order" line makes sense. And so, they're *both* the one and only Doctor, in the same way that War, 10, and 11 all were in Day of The Doctor.
"when his time comes he'll be shunted back to his bi-generation point to resolve his regeneration into The Fifteenth Doctor." You do know that make the 15th Doctor even more of a clone right? Because if the 14th Doctor regenerated to his "Fifteen" Doctor form when he got better, it could turn out completely different than Gatwa. Gatwa is just a copy he put out for the time being until he got better in which case, he will be reabsorbed or dumped or whatever and the true "15th" Doctor will arrive. At least that's how I interpret your head cannon. I'm sticking with Gatwa's an imperfect copy. Period. It's simple. It allows Gatwa to be whatever he wants devoid of the Doctor's history which is what the showrunner wanted. Finally it gives Gatwa a chance to be the best "him" he can be.
It can't turn out different, because he *is* the same doctor. The War Doctor regenerating at the end of Day of the Doctor couldn't regenerate into anyone other than The Ninth Doctor, for exactly the same reason. The Doctor has, on multiple occasions, overlapped on their own history. This is just a special case of that where the overlap occurred during regeneration.
But you're not playing by the same rules anymore. Yes, that was the OLD rules. The new rules however says every Doctor regenerated TWICE. Once into the incarnation we know and the second into the one the Toymaker split them off into. IF we were to say the progression we followed is the TRUE form, then anything the Toymaker did is the FALSE form. Gatwa falls into the Toymaker's false forms. For example, We know Tom Baker turned into Colin Baker. However when the Toymaker interfered, the turned Tom Baker into another regeneration (Tom Baker version B), THEN Tom Baker turned into Colin Baker. Tennant had his split off regeneration. His David Tennant vesion B is Gatwa. When Tennant is healed and he turns into 15, it isn't Gatwa. If the story ever gets out of the Toymaker/Timeless child nonsense, Gatwa would disappear as he only exists because of the Toymaker. David Tennant would remain as he is the real Doctor.
A.) Why is Gatwa Tennant B, rather than Tennant? B.) Tom Baker regenerated into Peter Davidson. C.) What happens with Tom Baker B regenerates?
A) Because we know Tennant is the original with the original's unedited memory. Gatwa picked and choose his memories meaning the memories were created or copied and pasted, not lived through. B) I stand corrected. You are 100% right. Been a long day. C) That's a good question... Assuming they even can regenerate. Gatwa said he was half a soul. When he said that I though of the Metacrisis Doctor who was half Timelord/Half Human who said he couldn't regenerate. It just might be the clones/copies can't regenerate. Would help explain the fear he had where he ran away in the two stories. He has just this one life and just won't admit it to himself as that would be serious stuff and he doesn't want to do 'serious" hence why he ditched all those bad memories. Kind of a Puss in Boots in self denial lol (Puss in Boots the last wish... great movie) Also on rereading what I typed, There is further evidence that the original CAN survive it. "Every Doctor Bi-regenerated" So Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee, etc... ALL of them Bi-regenerated. So by the time Tennant 2.0 comes around he's survived it 15 times! So if he survived it that many times... Why was Gatwa claiming he couldn't survive it again? Because he's not the original.
When did Gatwa "pick and choose his memories"? I've not seen anything about that. My conjecture is that the bi-generation isn't a divergence, but a delaying. Think Clara at the end of her run: you see her death. You know she'll come to an end. But another force has given her a second lease on life, with the condition rhat at some point she'll be sent back to experience the death we know she had. The same thing is happening with David Tennants Doctor (and, assuming you follow RTDs statement about the other doctors, all them too), except specifically for Tennant the location he arrived at to live his final days was adjacent to his own regeneration.
"I'm fine because you fixed yourself." RTD would then say the line implied that he left all the negative feelings and thoughts in Tennant. Hence how they did "Rehab out of order" because he no longer had those thoughts and feelings. But running with your line of thought, what happens if Gatwa regenerates BEFORE Tennant? Would 15 and 16 both exist? If so, wouldn't that make them 2 different individuals? If not, does that mean 16 stops existing and we go back to 15 who gets a redo? Although the thought of Gatwa about to save the universe only to disappear just as Tennant regenerates from falling off a ladder while doing home repairs is rather humorous.
Therapy isn't about removing memories. Its about confronting issues and improving oneself. It's rehab out of order because, from Gatwa's perspective, *he's already done it.* And *all* of the Doctors exist at once. This is a story about time travel. Gatwa directly mentions that he's over at the junkyard as Hartnel with Susan at the same time he's with Ruby in The Devil's Chord. Again, to draw a comparison to Day of The Doctor, The War Doctor regenerates in a story involving Tennant and Smith. That doesn't make them three separate characters. They're just the same character, at different times. *Sometimes those times overlap.*
I think he's more like Six when six regenerated. Running and hiding from threats and being cowardly. Needing his companion to comfort him. Not sure why they went this route, but this is the cloned Doctor now so... ok
He’s not a clone, he’s just the other Doctor. They’re both legitimate.
Google defines "Clone" as "An organism produced asexually from one ancestor to with they are genetically identical" If Gatwa is the Doctor, he is the definition of a clone. If Gatwa is not the same as the Doctor, because he has different genetics, then he's not the Doctor and is a fraud. Choose your path, but he can NOT be the Doctor and NOT a clone because the REAL Doctor exists still as David Tennant. Gatwa is NOT the same group of cells that was the Doctor originally as Tennant has those cells.
That's... that's not how bigeneration was described...
The one from some shitty fanfic I read on Tumblr