Ncuti Gatwa Breaks A Doctor Who Tradition For Only The Third Time In 60 Years

Warning: spoilers ahead for Doctor Who’s 2023 Christmas special.

Ncuti Gatwa makes his Doctor Who debut proper in “The Church on Ruby Road,” but the 2023 Christmas special ditches a time-honored show tradition stretching back to the 1960s. Ncuti Gatwa made his first appearance as the Fifteenth Doctor in 60th anniversary episode “The Giggle,” but was forced to share the spotlight with David Tennant after Doctor Who‘s divisive bi-generation twist. Gatwa’s first true opportunity to establish his version of the Doctor comes in 2023’s Christmas adventure, which puts Fifteen in the path of Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday, setting up Doctor Who season 14 and the future of the show.

Thanks to his unconventional regeneration, Ncuti Gatwa is already a very different incarnation of the Doctor, utterly unlike any that came before. Fifteen’s uniqueness is also reflected by his not-very-screwdriver-like sonic screwdriver, his penchant for clubbing, and his firmer grasp on fashion compared to past Doctor Who regenerations. “The Church on Ruby Road” doubles down on setting Ncuti Gatwa starkly apart from previous Doctors by dropping a long-standing tradition that has seldom been broken before.

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Ncuti Gatwa Doesn’t Get A Doctor Who Costume Scene

Despite arguably being the most fashionable owner the TARDIS has ever had, Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor does not get a costume change sequence in Doctor Who‘s 2023 Christmas episode. The tradition started with Patrick Troughton in 1966’s “The Power of the Daleks,” which opened with the Second Doctor losing his predecessor’s cloak and ring, then picking out a new coat and his trademark recorder from a chest in the TARDIS. This concept was later taken further for Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor, who swiped his outfit from a hospital, and the pattern continued with Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann.

In the modern era, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and Jodie Whittaker have all received a scene or two designed to introduce and explain their new outfits – even if Capaldi’s was simply asking Clara what she thought of his new look. Ncuti Gatwa joins William Hartnell and Christopher Eccleston as the only Doctors who appear in Doctor Who having already settled into their new costumes. The Fifteenth Doctor departed in “The Giggle” wearing David Tennant’s underwear, then arrives in “The Church on Ruby Road” rocking his tan coat and mustache.

Doctor Who Skips Over The Fifteenth Doctor’s Early Days

Beyond just ignoring how the new Doctor chooses his outfit, Doctor Who‘s 2023 Christmas special also skips entirely over Fifteen’s early days as the Time Lord’s latest incarnation. Post-regeneration Doctor Who episodes from years gone by showed the newly-revitalized protagonist struggling from regeneration sickness, getting a new sonic screwdriver, convincing companions they’re still the same person, and, in Six’s case, being very rude. “The Church on Ruby Road” avoids all of the above.

Following his brief cameo and prompt exit in “The Giggle,” the Fifteenth Doctor reappears fully-formed. His screwdriver has already been constructed, any post-regeneration shock has been dealt with, and Gatwa’s Doctor clearly has a strong sense of his personality, implying some time has passed since the 60th anniversary’s Toymaker battle. Ncuti Gatwa’s first full outing is the Doctor Who equivalent of 1989’s Batman or Spider-Man: Homecoming – a superhero movie that leapfrogs the origin story and launches straight into the main narrative with the hero already fighting crime.

Why Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor Returns In The Christmas Special Fully-Formed

Ncuti Gatwa unquestionably would have had a huge amount of fun toying around with a Doctor Who “choose a new outfit” sequence, but skipping the admin new regenerations typically go through makes perfect sense. With Russell T Davies returning as showrunner, a distribution deal with Disney+, and the advent of the “Whoniverse,” Doctor Who season 14 strongly symbolizes a new era for the show following the Fourteenth Doctor’s bi-generation. It seems natural, therefore, that Ncuti Gatwa follows William Hartnell and Christopher Eccleston as only the third full-time Doctor to appear pre-clad in their main outfit sans explanation.

As the First Doctor, Hartnell’s iteration had, of course, been around a while before “An Unearthly Child,” and while 2005’s “Rose” hinted that the Ninth Doctor had only recently regenerated, the gap between John Hurt’s War Doctor and Eccleston has still not been made explicit in canon. In both instances, a sequence showing the Doctor picking out new clothes was made redundant by the fact these were the first Doctors of their respective eras. By giving Ncuti Gatwa the same treatment, Doctor Who is creating the same kind of new beginning the show previously had in 1963 and 2005.