On 8th May 2022, the BBC announced that Ncuti Gatwa has been cast as the 14th incarnation of Doctor Who. Born in Rwanda, Ncuti Gatwa is the first black actor to take on the leading Doctor Who role. However, he's not the first black actor to represent Doctor Who, since that particular honour goes to Jo Martin, of Jamaican descent, who starred as an incarnation of the Doctor known as the Fugitive Doctor.



Since the series' relaunch in 2005, the science fiction programme has definitely become more multi-racial and inclusive of all gender types. Other notable black actors who were cast as leading characters in the revamped Doctor Who series include Tosin Cole, of Nigerian descent, who starred as Doctor Who companion Ryan Sinclair for 22 episodes from October 2018 to January 2021; Sharon D Clarke, of Jamaican descent, who starred as Ryan Sinclair's grandmother Grace O'Brien; Sacha Dhawan, of Indian descent, who starred as the Master in 2020; Pearl Mackie, of Indian descent, who starred as Doctor Who companion Bill Potts for 13 episodes in 2017; Noel Clarke, of Trinidadian descent, who starred as Doctor Who companion Mickey Smith for 17 episodes between 2005 and 2010; and Freema Agyeman, of Iranian Kurdish/Ghanaian descent, who chiefly starred as Doctor Who companion Martha Jones for 19 episodes between 2007 and 2010.