Ncuti Gatwa backs Rylan Clark for career in acting after Doctor Who role
'Doctor Who' star Ncuti Gatwa loved getting to work with Rylan Clark in new episode 'The Interstellar Song Contest'.
Ncuti Gatwa thinks Rylan Clark has a future in acting after his 'Doctor Who' appearance.
The former 'X Factor' star turned TV presenter appears alongside Graham Norton in upcoming episode 'The Interstellar Song Contest', and Ncuti was delighted to be working with him on the 'Eurovision' themed sci-fi story.
Reflecting on Rylan joining 'Doctor Who', he told the Big Issue magazine: "I acted with Rylan Clark. I never thought I would ever do that!
“Rylan was really good as well. If he decides to do more acting, I can see it panning out well for him.
"I was so impressed and he brought an amazing energy to the set. We all felt a bit of a hole in our hearts after he left."
The upcoming series of 'Doctor Who' features a number of guest stars, including Alan Cumming as the voice of cartoon character Mr Ring-a-Ding, who finds himself in the real world.
Ncuti said: “Alan Cumming was also amazing. I didn’t work with him in person – I was acting opposite a three-foot cardboard cutout – but we worked with his voice, which is terrifying and brought Mr Ring-a-Ding to life."
Former 'EastEnders' star Rose Ayling-Ellis is also part of the cast, and Ncuti revealed he learned some sign language while he was sharing the screen with the deaf actress.
He added: “I learnt some BSL to work with Rose Ayling-Ellis. What an incredible actor and human being.
"I was blown away by the level of awareness to lip read while speaking in English and signing too.
"She was translating what she was saying into BSL, because it is different grammatically and has different syntax. She has to be so aware and awake and connected.”
As well as guest stars, showrunner Russell T Davies recently explained that despite featuring "little moments" referencing the legacy of 'Doctor Who', he's keen to introduce new monsters and villains for Ncuti's Time Lord.
He told RadioTimes.com: "I’m shifting it away from Daleks and Cybermen and the Master... partly because I came in off the back of a story (2022’s ‘The Power of the Doctor’) that had literally the Daleks and the Cybermen and the Master all in one episode fighting Jodie Whittaker – which was brilliant, but once that’s happened, it’s just common sense to take a different step.
“But little moments, little nods, little references... if anyone can say, ‘Oh, you look like a Drahvin!’' then I‘m happy!
“I love that stuff – sometimes the writers put that into scripts and we enjoy it, but they’re just nods and Easter eggs. That's the flavour of transmission today, I think.”
