Doctor Who has been a globally beloved sci-fi show since 1963. At the end of the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials, Ncuti Gatwa made his debut as the Fifteenth Doctor. Then, the Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road” introduced his new companion, Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson.
To celebrate the release of Doctor Who Season 15 — and the show’s move to Disney+ — Ncuti and Millie sat down with BuzzFeed to talk about bringing their first season to life. They reflected on their magical first chemistry read, how they help influence their characters’ wardrobe, their weirdest experiences on set, and so much more!
Here’s everything we talked about:
Ncuti Gatwa: It [wasn’t] that hard, honestly.
Millie Gibson: Naturally, yeah. I mean, to be honest, that’s why we do chemistry reads. As soon as I kind of walked in, it was like, Is this gonna work? Or is it not? And I left and I was like, Wow, we had great chemistry! And then thought, Yeah, but Ncuti’s such a charismatic guy. Did that happen with everyone he spoke to? And yeah, it didn’t, thank god. So I’m really glad that it was a natural kind of journey from there. But yeah, I think our relationship is so similar to Ruby and the Doctor anyway, it’s kind of grown even more so.
NG: I would agree with all of that. I just, yeah, it was there from the offset. It seems like for me, it was Millie walking into the room and Millie’s interpretation of the character was such, like, [a] final piece in the jigsaw in terms of characterizing the Doctor. I knew, like, the direction in which I wanted to take the energy of the TARDIS. And so that helped with the chemistry, ’cause it was like, “Ah, this is what we’re looking for!”
MG: Because every Doctor and companion have such a, like, kind of tennis ball match. It’s like, “What’s ours gonna be like?” And it was there straight away. It helped me. [to Ncuti] It helped me get the part, honey. I’m glad you were there!
MG: NO!
NG: ABSOLUTELY NOT!
MG: It coulda been, couldn’t it have, Kristen?
NG: Ah! I would’ve loved to have known that was part of it. That was what we were gonna be doing!
MG: They [were] absolutely not. Can you dance? Can you sing? Can you go on wires? Are you scared of heights?
NG: Not even! They didn’t even ask!
MG: No, I’m saying, they should’ve.
NG: That’s what would’ve been cool.
MG: Yeah, there were so many elements. I was like, “Imagine if I had, like, this deathly fear of heights.”
NG: Could you imagine?
MG: And they were like, “So, we’re gonna put you onto the wires.”
NG: “And we’re just gonna hoist you up this crane, up you go.” Or singing, for example…I kept thinking, “Oh, oh, we’re gonna go to a studio. Auto-Tune will be our friend. Like, this has got [to be] fine, this is gonna —”
MG: LIES!
NG: None of that!
MG: Lies!
NG: We turned up on set. They said, “Here’s a mic…And off you go.” We were like, “Ah…”
MG: “Ah.” Yeah, and even, like, the demo. I mean, we had an incredible choreographer called Jack Murphy, which definitely helps us, but even that, like, I don’t dance! I try! But not for, not for the world!
NG: Not for the world to see! So this was, it was really a game of sink or swim.
MG: You decide if we…[both start laughing].
I think it turned out great!
NG: We’ll leave that decision to you!
NG: It’s definitely been a real collaborative effort with our incredible costume designer, Pam Downe, who is just like — she was just amazing and so forward-thinking, and, like, I really feel has helped put this era of the show on the map. Do you know what I mean? I mean, those costumes have been so iconic, and so incredible. And we’ve not seen a Doctor change like that before or, like, embrace each time period that he’s traveling to as much as we’re doing now. So Pam is just incredible. And she’ll come, and she’ll chat to us for ages about what we’re thinking about each episode, what direction we want to go, and how we’re feeling emotionally in each episode. Because, obviously, the clothes, with what we’re doing practically, sometimes, we’ve got to be really practical. Like, your costume has to be really practical to where you are and you have to blend in.
MG: Yes, with the wires for some of our costumes.
NG: It’s a really great, collaborative effort with Pam Downe.
MG: I remember we really wanted to find, like, a pattern for Ruby and a jacket as well. I feel like a companion’s jacket is very much an iconic thing. And yeah, they cleverly, like, crafted this incredible leather jacket with fur around it. And it was just so, like, as soon as I put it on, I was like, “Oh my God, I’m Ruby!” And it’s so cool how costume just makes you feel like a character, as well as makeup. But yeah, I just, I remember she wanted me in checkers — checkered pattern — and so I’m in that quite a lot. To me, that just, like, describes Ruby — quirky, fiesty, cool. I got to pick my colors for the ’60s episode. She was like, “What colors do you want?” And I went, “Green!” And she went, “No, you can’t have that one ’cause green screens are all around.” I was like, “Fine.” And so, I was like, “Black and white?” And then, she was like, “Absolutely.”
Have you had, like, a favorite outfit that you got to wear this season?
NG & MG: Regency!
NG: Felt so hot!
MG: I was in my own world in Regency. I think I just went off on a wander in these beautiful locations. We were filming in three different manors, and every single one of them, I just went off like I was in my own little princess adventure in this dress! And all the runners were like, “Where — can people keep tabs on Millie?” Wandering off trying to find, like, an aesthetic thing, like I was in my own little film. Yeah, definitely Regency.
NG: It felt like the most we’ve stepped into a world that is completely different from anything. Do you know what I mean? Because it was the ’60s, like, we’ve still got our parents and grandparents that, you know, we know the music of that time. It’s not like we’re listening to 18th-century bops now.
MG: Oh, I see what you mean!
NG: Do you know what I mean? Whereas, you listen to the Beatles now.
MG: And there were loads of extras in the outfits as well! I was like, “I live here! This is my home!”
NG: It really transported us.
MG: And it was getting to summertime as well. It was just the best episode.
NG: It was such a fun episode.
MG: So much fun.
MG: Yeah, definitely.
NG: Oh, you’ll have to just watch and see, Kristen! You’ve got to watch the whole series and see.
MG: I did a flat tour, and every time I was in Ruby’s flat —
NG: I watched that.
MG: Did you watch it?
NG: I watched it. I had to approve it for some reason.
MG: I don’t get to approve! Why did you?
NG: [laughing] I know, sorry.
MG: Imagine if you went, “Absolutely not!”
NG: I was like, “Why am I having to approve this?” I know. But you were so funny in it. “This is all that’s left of her — a bottle.” Brilliant! Sorry, go in.
MG: Every time I was showing the behind the scenes around Ruby’s flat, they kept telling me what Easter eggs were in there, but they never actually told me what they were for. So can’t help you too much there. But there’s definitely Easter eggs!
NG: What?
MG: I was doing a big flat tour of Ruby’s house. And behind the scenes kept going, “By the way” to point out that that’s an Easter egg. And I was like, “Okay.” And they actually didn’t tell me why, which would’ve helped in this question, Kristen. So sorry.
NG: So we have no idea. They like to keep things from us ’cause they know that we’ve got big mouths. We’ll just spill all the secrets, so they keep things hidden from us.
MG: They go, “Don’t tell Millie and Ncuti.”
NG: “Don’t tell Millie and Ncuti, whatever you do.”
MG: For me, no. I mean, the companion has to have a certain energy about us. So definitely, the energy I’d say, but I think I wanted Ruby to be — and I think Russell [T. Davies, the showrunner] wanted — Ruby to be a completely different vibe, particularly for our age as well. They’ve never done a companion — well, one of the companions this young before.
NG: I would say yes and no. It’s a difficult question to answer. Yes. ‘Cause you’re playing the same, you’re carrying on — there’s a trajectory. There’s a throughline that you’re having to carry on. And so, you do look at each Doctor, and you kind of have to figure out the puzzle/formula of, like, they are all so different, but there is something inexplicably “the Doctor” about all of them…So you watch just to kind of gain that understanding.
MG: Yeah, it’s like they follow with one emotion for each one of them. Like, I always think Matt Smith’s quite chaotic, Peter Capaldi’s quite serious. Like, one emotion they cling onto, and then it’s like…
NG: But like, in the mold, of, like, this character. That’s like…but they’re me.
MG: How did you play? It must’ve been so hard.
NG: I don’t know! I don’t know! It’s just, I really, really…
MG: I wouldn’t know where to begin, darling!
NG: God! But yes, definitely inspired by prior Doctors. Just tried to bring my own thing in now. Whether it’s working or not, we don’t know!
MG: Yes, it is! Yes, it is!
NG: Yeah! Oh my God, yeah. Oh my God, it was so lovely. David [Tennant], Matt [Smith], Peter [Capaldi], Sylvester McCoy.
MG: Oh, that’s so sweet!
NG: Oh my God, it was so sweet. Filmed this whole thing with, like, the fan going off above him —
MG: Awww! AWWW! AWWW! You’ve got to show me that!
NG: And [Sylvester’s] like, “You’re gonna face the Weeping Angels. You’re gonna face the Daleks, the Cybermen, but most of all, the critics.” Heart. Broken. I was like, “This man is precious, precious, precious, precious.” And the first Scottish Doctor as well! And how lovely! From the first Scottish Doctor to now the current Doctor. See, and that’s how you know that Scottish Doctors are the best.
MG: Well, Jodie [Whittaker] messaged me. I was in the car, and it was like, “[The message] Love, Jodie.” I was like, “Who’s Jodie?” And then, I was like, “Oh my God!” And Madip [Gill] messaged me, which was lovely, passing the baton…I slid into Karen Gillan’s DMs because I’m just obsessed with her, as we all know. And she replied, bless her heart, and she was so, so lovely.
NG: Oh, my God, we lost our minds working with Jinkx Monsoon. She just, from the get-go, our jaws on the floor in terms of her talent.
MG: We watched the ’60s episode recently, at a premiere recently, and honestly, I — mind-blowing.
NG: Her performance is incredible.
MG: She’s terrifying, but so —
NG: Delicious!
MG: Delicious! I love delicious! Literally makes so much sense.
NG: No, but like, she…you love — you LOVE to hate her [character]!
MG: You’re rooting for her! I was kind of watching it, like, “Oh, please don’t win, but…”
NG: I know! I know!
MG: Let her have her moment!
NG: She’s one of those baddies that you’re, like, “I want to see what you will do. Like, what will you do?” And [she’s] one of the greatest monsters — greatest villains — that the Doctor’s faced, like, the amount of power she has.
MG: Yeah, she played that delicious.
NG: So, Jinkx was like, I mean, [to Millie] you know this because you’re a big Drag Race fan anyway.
MG: I died that day, honestly. I love, I love Drag Race. That was my thing when I was younger. I was like, “Jinkx Monsoon is the funniest drag queen ever.” Anyway, years later, Russell’s like, “Guess who we’re thinking about for my show?” I was like, “Oh yeah, who?” He went, “Jinkx Monsoon.” I was like, “Are you absolutely kidding me?”
NG: So talented!
MG: So talented!
NG: There’s not much she can’t do.
MG: We were filming another episode, and I was like, “Ncuti, watch! Watch her best moments!” I was just so excited to work with her, but she was hilarious.
NG: And Jonathan Groff as well. Jonathan is such a talented, talented, talented man. Kindest soul. The studio wept when he left. Like, we were heartbroken. There was a hole — there was a void! There was a hole on set when he left. Great, great, great guy. So talented.
MG: Oh my God, so many.
NG: Oh my God, yeah.
MG: Where to begin, Kristen?
NG: Where to begin?
MG: For me, Jodie Comer.
NG: Gillian Anderson.
MG: Gillian Anderson! Another delicious villain.
NG: Can you imagine? Delicious. Jodie Turner Smith.
MG: Oh, yeah.
NG: Ahhh, delicious.
MG: Delicious. Mads Mikkelsen — eye candy. What else?
NG: Who else? Whoo ellllllllseeee? [referencing a Vogue magazine cover visible on the bookshelf behind me] Harry Styles.
MG: [referencing a plushie also visible behind me] Kermit the Frog!
NG: Kermit the Frog! All the greats.
NG: The Whoniverse is absolutely massive and expansive, so there’s no way of covering it all. In prepping for, like, my audition, I remember trying to watch as much as, like, [the] new era as possible. That’s when I fell in love with the show. We were familiar with, like, the foundations or, like, the lore of Doctor Who in terms of that stuff.
MG: Yeah, when I got the audition, I just rewatched all my favorite episodes, and just to bring back kind of a love I remember having for it and the amount of, like, passion I had for it. And I remember just watching it, thinking, “Bloody hell, if I don’t get this, I’m never gonna be able to watch this show again.”…So thank God I got it so I can watch Matt Smith in peace.
NG: Oh honey, we’d all like to do that.
MG: I know!
NG: It does feel like…Russell’s 2.0 era…There’s little Russell intricacies [and] idiosyncrasies throughout.
NG: Oh, I’d like to meet my wife, River Song.
MG: I wanna meet her! She’s so cool!
NG: She’s really cool, no? And whenever she appears, there’s always a mystery, so I would like to meet River Song.
MG: She’s just so sassy. Honestly, she is gorgeous. I agree.
NG: Oh my God, we worked with 12 babies — real babies — on set.
MG: We can do “Space Babies” spoilers, can’t we? Yeah, yes. Probably getting snot dripped on my head.
NG: Oh, that was a moment. [laughs]
MG: That was horrendous.
NG: I loved that day so much!
MG: I had a stand-in, and she had to test it for them, just so they got it perfectly right. So this poor girl called Emmy was just sat there like, “Ah…” She looked like, “What has my life come to?” Getting snot dripped on her head just to make sure it’s perfect when I did it.
NG: [singing] “Hello darkness, my old friend.”
MG: That was mad.
NG: “Space Babies,” for sure.
MG: “Space Babies” was just an odd trip, wasn’t it?
NG: Such a wild, wild ride. Oh my God…12 babies! We thought it was a joke…I was like, “There’s no way that we’re actually gonna work with babies. There’s no way.” And then…yes we were!
MG: As well as the voices of the babies that we had to act with. It was our first AD called Dan, who obviously doesn’t have a baby voice. So I was going, “Aww, Eric,” to like, you know, this bloke going, “I love you, Ruby.”
NG: [in a high-pitched voice] “Hello, Eric.” [in a deep voice] “I love you, Ruby.”
MG: I was like, “Oh, I don’t know how to work with this, really. Don’t know what to do with it.” Yeah, very unique experience.
NG: It was a real…we earned our pennies that day.
MG: We really did.
MG: Positivity!
NG: Positivity.
MG: Glass half full.
NG: Curiosity in one another, as well…At times, it can sometimes feel like we’re closing ourselves off to others. Then I think Doctor Who is a nice show that reminds us to be curious in one another and want to embrace one another and connect with one another. And certainly have hope and joy in the face of adversity because it’s important to have.
MG: And remember, there’s always a twist at the end!
NG: Oooooohhh, go on, Millie! That was a nice one! That’ll all make sense! That’ll all make sense one day.
NG: Oh my God, I would love to film in Barbados. Can you imagine? Somewhere really hot.
MG: New York.
NG: New York!
MG: Imagine if we went to New York! That would be so cool.
NG: Yeah, that would be cool. Sri Lanka.
MG: Paris.
NG: Paris.
MG: Paris in a jazz club.
NG: Brazil! Brazil! Rio would be amazing to film in.
MG: Yeah. Oh my God, can you imagine?
NG: Let’s just keep saying wherever you wanna go.
MG: Rome. I’d love to film in Rome.
NG: Rome would be amazing to film.
MG: And we meet, like, an Italian stallion!
NG: South of France.
MG: Yeah, south of France!
NG: South of France. I think some things really go down there — extraterrestrial.
MG: And you know what? Costa Rica needs to be —
NG: Costa Rica needs to be saved as well! Really needs to be saved.
MG: Where else?
NG: St. Kitts as well. I’ve heard a lot of things are going down there, extraterrestially. So, gotta get out there as well.
This interview has been edited for length and/or clarity.
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