'Doctor Who' is enlivened by its Black, openly queer star

<img src='https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2025/04/11/pchh-doctor-who-square_sq-a7104867123d38905946d50706b4295aa209e9ad.jpg' alt='Ncuti Gatwa in the second season of Doctor Who.’/>

The last season of the venerable British science fiction series Doctor Who brought a lot of change. The Doctor is now played by Ncuti Gatwa, who is Black and openly queer. And it marked the return of the showrunner who birthed the modern era of Doctor Who. The show just returned for a new season on Disney+, so today we’re revisiting our conversation about the series.

(Image credit: Maxine Howells)