After months of anticipation, Doctor Who fans finally got to see Ncuti Gatwa’s full debut as the titular Time Lord in a fun-filled Christmas Special.

The festive episode saw this new incarnation of the famous traveller battle an army of goblins intent on causing bad luck for Ruby Sunday, an orphan determined to discover the truth about her past.

Penned by showrunner Russell T Davies, Ncuti’s performance was universally praised by fans, with many stunned to learn of his unexpected singing talents during the episode’s musical number.

The Goblin Song had been released as a single earlier this month, but Ncuti and his co-star Millie Gibson’s vocals had been kept secret from viewers.

In the episode, The Doctor finds himself drawn to young Ruby after she was abandoned outside a church on Christmas Eve as a baby.

After months of anticipation, Doctor Who fans finally got to see Ncuti Gatwa’s full debut as the titular Time Lord in a fun-filled Christmas Special

Penned by showrunner Russell T Davies, Ncuti’s performance was universally praised by fans, with many stunned to learn of his unexpected singing talents

Ruby appears on a TV series, hosted by Davina McCall, in the hope of tracking down her birth parents, after being adopted by her foster mother Carla.

Following her appearance, both Ruby, and Davina begin to be plagued with bad luck, unaware it’s actually being caused by a troupe of goblins.

When Carla’s foster baby is kidnapped, Ruby finds herself crossing paths with The Doctor when she follows the goblins to their ship, and the pair try and rescue the child from being eaten by The Goblin King.

During their quest to stop The Goblins, The Doctor finds Ruby has been erased from time, after being taken by the army when she was just a baby.

Travelling back to the church, The Doctor rescues a young Ruby and ensures she is taken in by the kindly vicar, setting her life story in motion.

Having saved her – and Davina McCall from a falling Christmas tree – The Doctor prepares to fly off in his new TARDIS, but an intrigued Ruby rushes to join him, putting a brand new time-travelling partnership in motion.

Viewers were quick to laud Ncuti and Millie’s first scenes together, with many also stunned to hear their singing talents.

Taking to X – formerly known as Twitter – fans said: ‘Ncuti Gatwa is completely believable and compelling as The Doctor and we’ve only seen him for literal minutes;’

The festive episode saw this new incarnation of the traveller battle an army of goblins intent on causing bad luck for Ruby Sunday, an orphan determined to discover the truth about her past

Viewers were quick to laud Ncuti and Millie’s first scenes together, with many also stunned to hear their singing talents

Ruby appears on a TV series, hosted by Davina McCall , in the hope of tracking down her birth parents, after being adopted by her foster mother Carla

‘LOVEEEE Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor already;’ ‘Ncuti Gatwa is *so* the Doctor!;’ ‘Millie Gibson is absolutely outstanding. Ncuti Gatwa really enjoyable too;’

‘Ncuti is going to make such a good Doctor, absolutely buzzing;’ ‘The screen presence Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson both bring is superb. Promising start to the new era;’

‘WAIT WHAT HE CAN SING TOO?!?!?!;’ ‘#DoctorWho daaamn #NcutiGatwa is such a babe who can sing AND dance.’

Ncuti made his first appearance as The Doctor in the third 60th Anniversary Special earlier this month, when The Doctor ‘bi-generated’ meaning two incarnations of him were in existence at the same time.

He and the Fourteenth Doctor (played by David Tennant) thwarted the Toymaker’s evil plan, with the previous incarnation deciding to stay on Earth with his own TARDIS, best friend Donna Noble and her family.

Speaking ahead of the festive episode, titled The Church On Ruby Road, Ncuti revealed he wants to bring his ‘black beautiful self’ to the character, when asked what will be different about his incarnation of The Doctor.

He said: ‘It is such a hard question to answer because the role of the Doctor is everything anyway.

‘He is an explorer who has been around for a billion years so they have so many quirks and intricacies, rage and joy and they are full of a lot of emotions.

‘So to pick what I was going to bring out differently is a very hard question to answer. I guess myself, my black beautiful self. I bring my blackness.’

Ncuti will be the first black actor to take on a full-time stint as The Doctor, after Jo Martin briefly played a version of the character in 2020.

Following her appearance, both Ruby, and Davina begin to be plagued with bad luck, unaware it’s actually being caused by a troupe of goblins

Ncuti will be the first black actor to take on a full-time stint as The Doctor, after Jo Martin briefly played a version of the character in 2020

Ncuti made his first appearance as The Doctor in the third 60th Anniversary Special earlier this month, when The Doctor ‘bi-generated’ meaning two incarnations of him were in existence at the same time

The actor, who was born in Rwanda before moving to Scotland when he was two, said it was ‘surreal’ that he landed the part, alongside Millie Gibson, who will play his companion Ruby Sunday.

He said: ‘We have seen that blue box and heard the theme for many years and to see my face it is like ”What is going on?” But it is exhilarating.

‘I have the best writer and the best companion. It was a joy – daunting, exhilarating and fun.’