Doctor Who: The Top 10 Moments of Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor

In light of Ncuti Gatwa's unexpected exit from Doctor Who, it is only right that we celebrate his biggest moments on the show. Below, we count down the top 10 moments of the Fifteenth Doctor.

10. Teaming Up With The Thirteenth Doctor - "The Reality War"

As The Doctor ran back to the TARDIS in the fifteenth season's finale, it became apparent that he was about to cause his next regeneration. But just before he could go through with it, we got a surprise appearance from none other than Jode Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor.

Of any two Doctor's to get a quick conversation, these were definitely a strong pairing. Gatwa's Doctor bounced off Whittaker's perfectly and it was glorious few minutes. Plus, no offence to Whittaker's era, but she got better dialogue than her entire run put together (sorry, Chibnall).

9. The Sutekh Twist - "The Legend of Ruby Sunday"

The identity of "The One Who Waits" and where Susan Triad slotted into things was a big focus for the fourteenth season's penultimute episode. We were even tinkering with the possibility that Triad could be The Doctor's long lost grandaughter, Susan Foreman.

Alas, in a gripping final few minutes of the episode, everything slowly clicked into place and we got the ultimate surprise of both mysteries tying into a villain from the classic series: Sutekh, the God of Death.

Gatwa's performance in this episode was great, but his fear and shock in that last section of the episode was brilliant!

8. Returning to Midnight - "The Well"

The latest season saw The Doctor and new companion Belinda winding up on a planet that had a deaf woman fearful of an unseen creature.

As many fans suspected in the build up to the episode, the planet was actually Midnight, a place David Tennant's Tenth Doctor had a nightmarish encounter on, and suddenly it was Gatwa's Doctor locked into a second battle with the monster that terrorised him years earlier.

The Fifteenth Doctor's realisation of his history on Midnight and his battle against the creature that has since evolved was as excellent as we'd expected.

7. Romance with Rogue - "Rogue"

It was since The Fifteenth Doctor graced our screens that we were waiting for romance to show itself, just in the way the show had before.

With Jonathan Groff's Rogue popping up in Doctor Fifteen's first season, it wasn't long before they went from bantering rivals to loved up thrill seekers.

Watching The Fifteenth Doctor dance his way into a new era for the show with the Time Lord having a full on same-sex romance was refreshing and it gave Gatwa a chance to show yet another side to his version of the character.

6. Letting Ruby Go - "Empire of Death"

As Fifteen's first season rounded up, we expected his new companion and best friend, Ruby Sunday, to stick around moving forward. Instead, Ruby was conflicted with having just found her birth mother and a reunion with her birth father on the horizon.

Leave it to The Doctor to do the job for her and give her reason for why she should stay behind on Earth and leave him to travel solo. As if it wasn't hard enough watching this exceptional pairing split off, Ruby's "I love you" and Gatwa's Doctor turning away to hide his tears as a true stoic was just heartbreaking.

We wish Ruby stayed, but weirdly at least we got such a great emotional goodbye.

5. Bi-generation Intro - "The Giggle"

David Tennant's return to the show was always known to be short lived, but we just expected the usual regeneration and as one leaves, one enters. Simple. This time around, we got one hell of a twist.

Instead, showrunner Russell T. Davies gave us "bi-generation", and this allowed Tennant and Gatwa's Doctor to interact and save the day from The Toymaker together.

They made one great pairing, but we can't praise the entrance of Gatwa's introduction more. His swagger. His energy. His joyfulness. He literally breathed new like into the show straight away.

4. Accepting his New Identity - "The Story and the Engine"

Obviously Gatwa marked the first time a black actor played The Doctor long term, and so the show decided to smartly address that this was a big first for the character.

This episode from the show's most recent season established that the Fifteenth incarnation had found a connection with a community in Lagos, Nigeria where he was able to feel instant acceptance unlike other parts of the universe (which we'll touch on later).

Watching what Gatwa's Doctor brings as he lands in Nigeria and interacts with the community there is heartwarming to watch and it acts as yet another example for how this Doctor had the show leaping forward.

3. The Landmine - "Boom"

How do you have an episode of Doctor Who be entertaining with the main character standing on a landmine for 97% of the runtime? You make sure Ncuti Gatwa is in the role at the time.

Gatwa's first season had him doing just this, and from barely moving a muscle he still had us in the palm of his hand as The Doctor tried to figure a way of being blown to smithereens.

His calmness. His sterness with Mundy and the other soldiers. His heart breaking when he believes Ruby has been killed. It's one heck of a powerhouse performance for our Fifteenth Doctor here.

2. His Talk with Conrad - "Lucky Day"

Call me crazy, but it just seems that The Fifteenth Doctor just got even better during those Doctor-lite episodes.

"Lucky Day" saw Conrad Clark have us believing he was a perfect romantic match for Ruby Sunday, but then the veil was lifted and it turned out he was the most sadistic and cruel human character that show had produced in a while.

The Doctor may not have ultimately saved the day in this episode, but it didn't stop him from grabbing Conrad from his jail cell for a quick conversation. At first The Doctor seemed his happy, cheery self then through his lecture to Conrad we watched as he slowly shifted into giving the villain a right old talking to, even going as far as telling Conrad how he'll end his days.

Chills from this one scene alone. Note: don't mess with The Fifteenth Doctor's friends.

1. Dealing with Racism - "Dot and Bubble"

It's another Doctor-lite episode, and this time it's topping the list.

The Doctor did have quite a bit of screen time in "Dot and Bubble" to be fair, but he didn't physically appear until the last scene, and this is when The Fifteenth Doctor truly got to shine.

Knowing that Lindsey and her fellow residents of Finetime would likely die if they rowed off to try and get to safety, he offered them all a lift to safety in the TARDIS. It was then that a lot of things from the episode clicked together as Lindsey and her friends refused due to The Doctor's ethnicity.

Even though these people had been majorly descriminitive, The Doctor's only real frustration came from these people not letting him save their lives. The despair. The humour. The rage. The sadness. Everything we watch Fifteen go through in this scene as he has to accept there is nothing he can do is remarkable and it really solidified him in one of the best Doctor performances of all time.

And would you believe it...this scene was his first day on set! What a way to kick his era off!

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What are YOUR favourite moments from the Fifteenth Doctor's tenure? Let us know in the comment section below!