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Doctor Who facing axe as lead star Ncuti Gatwa ‘quits’ amid woeful rating and fans’ fury at woke storylines
Ncuti’s exit as the Time Lord would be the earliest exit of a Doctor, bar one exception
DOCTOR Who is facing the axe, with star Ncuti Gatwa poised to quit and crew claiming to be laid off.
The recent series suffered abysmal ratings with fans outraged by the BBC shoehorning wokery into storylines.
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Bosses have postponed any decision until Ncuti’s second season has aired later this year.
But the Scot, 32, is already believed to have filmed his regeneration exit scene — and crew fear the BBC will shelve the show after 62 years.
An insider said: “Ncuti doesn’t want to be tied to the series beyond this and plans to relocate to Los Angeles with several Hollywood projects standing by for him.
"His team also see a lot of fan backlash from the series, and don’t want the perception of him still being The Doctor to get in the way of any future work.
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“The show has been poorly managed in recent years and there’s a lot of people who’ve been working on this show for years and now being cast aside due to poor leadership.
“People warned some episodes were getting too caught up on an agenda rather than telling a story and those people got shouted down, ignored.”
Ncuti’s first series, which began last May, attracted between 2.25million and 3.18million viewers — a tiny fraction of what it used to pull in.
Controversy over the storylines has ramped up since 2023, when Russell T Davies returned as showrunner.
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A trio of 60th anniversary specials kicked off with a plot involving a character who was able to save London because they were trans.
Another saw The Doctor — played by the returning David Tennant — realise he was gay after developing a crush on Sir Isaac Newton.
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However, viewing figures were still two million up on the episodes to come under Ncuti, accompanied by new companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson.
The first full series had plots slamming everything from capitalism to Christianity — and introduced a new enemy played by a drag queen.
A huge question mark also hangs over whether Disney will renew its deal, said to be worth £100million, with the BBC.
Crew working on the show in Cardiff are said to be furious at being left in limbo after filming wrapped last week.
The insider said: “Word on set is that the BBC will shelve the series for at least five years. The crew were told not to hold their breath for work on the series for at least ten years.
"As we scramble to find work, those responsible get to ride off on to other well-paid projects without any repercussions. Filming wrapped on Friday afternoon, with no fanfare or celebration.”
Ncuti’s exit as the Time Lord would be the earliest since Christopher Eccleston, who left after just one series in 2005.
Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker all did at least three before handing over the Tardis key.
Ncuti was brought in by Russell T Davies, who rebooted the franchise in 2005 before leaving in 2009, only to return two years ago.
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The actor has appeared in Barbie and has been making another film, The Roses, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman.
He is thought to have a string of other projects on both sides of the Atlantic.
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A spokeswoman for the show said: “Doctor Who has not been shelved. As we have previously stated, the decision on season 3 will be made after season 2 airs.
“The deal with Disney+ was for 26 episodes — and exactly half of those still have to transmit.”
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