“Why limit yourself?
Why breathe in the exhaust fumes?
Come over here where the life and light and air and sound is.”
Ncuti Gatwa and Russell T. Davies at the ‘Doctor Who’ season 2 premiere in London on March 31, 2025.Credit:Ian West/PA Images via Getty
“Someone always brings up matters of diversity,“the showrunner told BBC Radio 2.
“And there are online warriors accusing us of diversity and wokeness and involving messages and issues.
And I have no time for this.
Varada Sethu as Belinda Chandra and Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor on ‘Doctor Who’ season 2.James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf
I don’t have a second to bear it.”
Davies explained his reasoning.
“What you might call diversity, I just call an open door,” he said.
There’s a blue sky.
There’s clouds and There’s noise, there’s birdsong, there’s people arguing.”
He continued: “Someone over there is dancing, someone over there is arguing.
Varada Sethu as Belinda Chandra and Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor on ‘Doctor Who’ season 2.James Pardon/BBC Studios/Disney/Bad Wolf
That’s how to write, to get that whole world into it.
Some people maybe just open a window a crack.”
“Stick with your narrow window,” he said.
“Over here’s a big open door, and y’know those people who were dancing?
Now everyone’s dancing, and it’s glorious.
That’s the place to be.”
The showrunner also said that he’s not sure if his inclination toward diverse storytelling is necessarily conscious.
“That’s life, and I think it’s the only way to write,” he said.
“I think it’s harder to write with that narrow window.
That’s really why.
Why breathe in the exhaust fumes?
Come over here where the life and light and air and sound is.”
“That was the fastest ‘yes.’
“We all loved her.
So it was actually one of the easiest pieces of casting we’ve ever had.
The screenwriter also praised the show’s lead performer.
“He’s ferocious.
He’s a limitless actor,” he said of Gatwa.
“He’s a joy.
He’s a force in the world.
I think we’re doing him proud.”
