Doctor Who Breaking Season 14's Impressive Ncuti Gatwa Streak Will Help The Fifteenth Doctor

Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 14, episode 5, "Dot and Bubble."

Summary Doctor Who season 14, episode 5, "Dot and Bubble," disrupts a trend for Gatwa's Doctor, benefiting the character moving forward.

Gatwa's reuses a costume "Dot and Bubble," ending an ongoing streak.

The return to a familiar outfit in "Dot and Bubble" may shape the Fifteenth Doctor's character development.

Doctor Who season 14, episode 5, "Dot and Bubble," disrupts a Fifteenth Doctor trend that started in "Space Babies," but the broken streak will benefit Ncuti Gatwa's version of the character going forward. As the leader of the Doctor Who season 14 cast, Gatwa's Doctor has been inconsistent in one area, and while it hasn't had an impact on the story, one moment in "Dot and Bubble" could be an important milestone for how Fifteen is perceived by the audience.

"Dot and Bubble" is the second Doctor-lite story in as many episodes, with Gatwa's role being severely reduced while Callie Cookie takes to the spotlight as Lindy Pepper-Bean. With all that's going on in the installment, it can be easy to overlook the subtle end of what was an ongoing Gatwa streak right at the end of the episode. It may not be one of the biggest focal points of Doctor Who's Disney era, but it's almost impossible to ignore.

Related 20 Greatest Doctor Who Stories Of All Time, Ranked Doctor Who has been a fixture on TV screens for 60 years, meaning there are plenty of stories to choose from when picking out the Time Lord's best.

Ncuti Gatwa Finally Reuses A Costume In Doctor Who Season 14

The Doctor's "Dot & Bubble" outfit was last seen in the 2023 Doctor Who Christmas special

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The Fifteenth Doctor entered the show via the process of bi-generation. While his debut may have had him clad in half the garments of David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor, Gatwa's version of the Time Lord has gone on to boast an impressive array of outfits. Each episode of Doctor Who season 14 since "Space Babies" has had Ncuti Gatwa in a completely new set of clothes during each adventure. "Dot and Bubble" disrupts this trend by featuring the Doctor in the same brown and orange combo from the 2023 Christmas Special, "The Church on Ruby Road."

The Doctor can be seen wearing his "Dot and Bubble" outfit when he is watching Ruby's show during the opening minutes of "The Church on Ruby Road." The only difference is he's also wearing a hat in the Christmas special.

The only other clothes that the Fifteenth Doctor has worn in two episodes is his "Space Babies" outfit, which he's sporting during the final moments of his debut festive installment. However, "Space Babies" picks up exactly where "The Church on Ruby Road" leaves off. Therefore, it doesn't fit the bill of the Doctor choosing to wear the same outfit in two unrelated instances.

The Fifteenth Doctor's Returning Costume Is Great For His Character

Gatwa's Doctor may finally have settled on a famous outfit

Every actor to play the Doctor has had an iconic look during their time on the show. As it stands, Ncuti Gatwa has worn several costumes that have all been drastically different. What a Doctor chooses to wear communicates a lot about the variances in their character, and while not settling for a specific outfit does say a lot about the Fifteenth Doctor, it also makes it more difficult to figure out other aspects of his personality.

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Although previous Doctors have had more than one costume, they're often all within the same category. For instance, David Tennant's Tenth Doctor often wore a brown pinstriped suit, but he also had a blue one. Similarly, Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor always wore a bow tie, even if the rest of his ensemble changed over time. Ncuti Gatwa's return to the brown and orange costume in "Dot and Bubble" suggests this look may return more than once in the actor's Doctor Who future.

Episode Disney+ Release Date "Space Babies" & "The Devil's Chord" May 10 "Boom" May 17 "73 Yards" May 24 "Dot & Bubble" May 31 "Rogue" June 7 "The Legend of Ruby Sunday" June 14 "Empire of Death" June 21