--- description: Find out how Ncuti Gatwa is shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership. title: 2022 TIME100 Next: Ncuti Gatwa image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73e1d42451860cd0/698a35cd4ee26205a031a9ef/time100-next-ncuti-gatwa.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Sep 28, 2022 # Ncuti Gatwa by Russell T. Davies  Sarah M. Lee—BAFTA/Camera Press/Redux Sarah M. Lee—BAFTA/Camera Press/ReduxSarah M. Lee—BAFTA/Camera Press/Redux The man is like a thunderbolt, and he keeps winning new ground: Ncuti Gatwa’s creation of Eric Effiong in Netflix’s [_Sex Education_](https://time.com/5492639/sex-education-netflix-review/ "undefined") went soaring around the world. The character of the gay sidekick is meant to stay in the shadows. Not Eric! He strutted in, stole the spotlight, and I think a gracious, awestruck cast simply stood back and allowed him the room. I’d watched him onscreen, and thought I had the measure of him, until he walked into the room for _Doctor Who_ audition. Bang! Thunderbolt. And bear in mind, for U.K. TV, the [part of the Doctor is the Crown Jewels](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/08/arts/television/ncuti-gatwa-doctor-who.html "undefined"), it’s history, it’s tradition, it’s … Oh, sod that, I said, and threw it at him. He’s conquered the world. Now all of time and space is his. _Davies is a writer, producer, and the returning showrunner of_ Doctor Who ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213724/ncuti-gatwa/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213724/ncuti-gatwa/"},"headline":"Ncuti Gatwa","datePublished":"2022-09-28T09:54:57.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:06:15.872Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213724/ncuti-gatwa/","keywords":["TIME 100 Next"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73e1d42451860cd0/698a35cd4ee26205a031a9ef/time100-next-ncuti-gatwa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt73e1d42451860cd0/698a35cd4ee26205a031a9ef/time100-next-ncuti-gatwa.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213724/ncuti-gatwa/","name":"Ncuti Gatwa"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME100 Next: See Every Honoree","description":"See every 2022 TIME100 Next honoree in under two minutes.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/i4LJ3fau/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2022-09-28T10:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/i4LJ3fau.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213724/ncuti-gatwa/","duration":"PT1M59S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2022/6213724/ncuti-gatwa/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```