No, it’s not a glitch in the time-space continuum. Actor Ncuti Gatwa came face to face with his on-screen alter ego, Doctor Who, as he unveiled his wax figure and Who-inspired set at Madame Tussauds in London.
After appearing as the Time Lord for one season, the 31-year-old worked in collaboration with the creators of the wax figure to be immortalised forever in the statue which will be available to visit from 19 July.
Dressed in Gatwa’s costume from the 2023 Christmas special episode in which he was first cast as Doctor Who, the wax figure radiates as he stands with his right arm pressed to his chest.
The outfit is inspired by the 60s with a £140 calf-length leather coat, a striped zip-up cardigan and a pair of £220 sneakers from 155-year-old British luxury brand Grenson.
When he saw the finished product, Gatwa enjoyed interacting with his double by pretending to converse and taking selfies and photographs.
Actor Ncuti Gatwa came face to face with his on-screen alter ego Doctor Who as he unveiled his wax figure and Whoniverse-inspired set at Madame Tussauds in London.
After appearing as the Time Lord for a season, the 31-year-old worked in collaboration with the creators of the wax figure to be immortalized forever in the statue which will be available to visit from July 19.
The wax workers had achieved an extraordinary level of detail, right down to the chipped polish on her nails.
Hailed as the Doctor of a new generation with his extravagant costumes, Gatwa became the first black actor to take on the role.
Showrunner Russell T Davies also visited the attraction to unveil the new, specially designed Doctor Who immersive set.
This comes after the show’s future was called into question, despite filming for the fifteenth season having already begun, after the fourteenth failed to attract viewers and resulted in “disappointing” ratings.
An ambitious deal with Disney (rumoured to be worth $100m) meant that each episode aired on BBC iPlayer at midnight on Fridays to appease American viewers before being broadcast in its traditional Saturday teatime slot on terrestrial television.
This meant a drop in overall viewers despite the BBC’s contract with the US media giant aimed at revitalising the show with lavish special effects and Davies, 61, claimed the deal would finally put the show “on par with Star Wars and Marvel”.
The final episode, however, attracted just 2.02 million viewers, a sharp drop from Jodie Whittaker’s final outing as the first Doctor, which was watched by 3.7 million in real time.
The highly anticipated final episode of season 14, titled Empire Of Death, left Whovians wanting more.
Dressed in Gatwa’s costume from the 2023 Christmas special episode in which he first appeared as Doctor Who, the wax figure smiles as he stands with his right arm pressed against his chest.
The outfit is inspired by the 1960s, with a £140 calf-length leather coat, a striped zip-up cardigan and a pair of £220 sneakers from 155-year-old British luxury brand Grenson.
Hailed as the Doctor of 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 took selfies with the waxwork.
Its grand finale, which revealed who Ruby’s mother is, arrived on BBC iPlayer at midnight on Saturday and the episode aired on BBC One at 6.40pm.
But for fans who couldn’t wait for the big reveal, the long, arduous wait turned out to be a disappointment.
Doctor Who fans flocked to X, formerly known as Twitter, sharing their devastation at the finale and asking: “Is that it?”
One user wrote: “Ruby’s mother reveal is probably the worst I’ve seen on this show. I’m so disappointed.”
“I’m sorry, but the reveal of who Ruby’s mother was was lame.”
‘That was it?’
Since the 2023 Christmas special, the science fiction series has teased the “mystery” of Ruby Sunday’s (Millie Gibson) origins.
And over the course of seven episodes, a number of plot clues were dropped about the identity of Ruby’s unknown mother.
But after weeks of anticipation, viewers were left largely unsatisfied to learn that Ruby’s mother is just an ordinary woman named Louise.
The episode revealed that Louise had abandoned her daughter on the church gates in a state of panic when she was 15.
But many have criticized the reveal for being hugely anticlimactic.
Previous installments have portrayed the mysterious mother figure as a brooding, hooded figure.