Before he takes control of the TARDIS as the next star of BBC’s “Doctor Who,” Ncuti Gatwa will appear as a Ken in Warner Bros.’ “Barbie.” So the BBC decided to celebrate Gatwa’s upcoming Hollywood breakout by dropping a pink TARDIS next to London Bridge.
On Tuesday, Whovians and Barbie lovers alike were invited to take pictures with the repainted police box that serves as the exterior to the Doctor’s time-and-space-traveling ship, and there were plenty who took up that offer as the show’s Twitter page has teased that the box will pop up in other places for photo ops.
As some truly devoted “Doctor Who” fans pointed out, this isn’t the first time the TARDIS has been given a pink makeover. In 1988, during Sylvester McCoy’s run as the Seventh Doctor, the show aired an episode called “The Happiness Patrol,” in which the Doctor and his companion Ace land on a planet where sadness is outlawed under the enforcement of the titular Happiness Patrol, who paint the TARDIS pink shortly after it lands.
It’s a moment of “Who” history that the show’s YouTube page resurfaced to mark the Pink TARDIS’ arrival in London.
Ncuti Gatwa will begin his run on “Doctor Who” in 2024 following a trio of special episodes this November to celebrate the show’s 60th anniversary. For those episodes, David Tennant will return to play the Doctor — though he will be known as the Fourteenth Doctor rather than the Tenth Doctor he played from 2006-2010 — while Catherine Tate will return as his former companion Donna Noble.
In an interview with British Vogue, Gatwa revealed that he was actually shooting “Barbie” in England last year when it was announced that he would be the next Doctor, much to the delight of his fellow Ken, Ryan Gosling.
“I remember Ryan Gosling bounding up to my trailer like, ‘Doctor Who’ is the coolest show in the world man! I’m the biggest fan,’” he said. “And I was like, ‘What the hell?’ This show has incredible reach.”
“Barbie” hits theaters on July 21.
