The Whoniverse was set alight for what feels like the hundredth time this month earlier in the week, when Hollywood star Ryan Gosling wore a T-shirt celebrating Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Who casting on the set of new movie Barbie.
Gatwa is set to appear in the upcoming Margot Robbie film with Gosling, so the connection is (very slightly) less mind-boggling than it might first appear.
Showrunner Russell T Davies appeared to be blown away by the support, posting on Instagram that “This is, genuinely, Ryan Gosling wearing a t-shirt of Ncuti Gatwa as Doctor Who” while joking that “We’re suing him, of course. Illegal merch #rulesarerules.”
Now, the artist Matthew Purchase is selling the T-shirt, along with other items such as phone cases and coasters which feature the design, which fans can buy online here.
As worn by Ryan Gosling! Sold by the artist!
— Matthew Purchase (@TheCyberdevil) June 28, 2022
I’ve added my Ncuti Gatwa piece to Redubble, with watermark as worn by Ryan. As I don’t own everything in the image approximately 50% of the proceeds I will make will go to The Goboka Rwanda Trust.https://t.co/Yx3nYQlno0 pic.twitter.com/tDjGeYXZIX
The T-shirt, which uses image graphics not owned by the creator, is being sold through Redbubble, with Purchase tweeting that approximately 50% of the proceeds he makes will go to The Goboka Rwanda Trust.
Purchase had previously tweeted that the BBC had removed the artwork from Redbubble, but the items have subsequently been restored to the site for sale, with the official Doctor Who account tweeting of the fan-art: “We love this almost as much as Ryan Gosling does!”
We love this almost as much as Ryan Gosling does! ❤️❤️ https://t.co/785kW721lY
— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) June 28, 2022
Davies also followed up his initial post with a further joke on Instagram, saying: “UPDATE: my Cease & Desist order against Mr Ryan Gosling reaches the High Court today at 12pm, presiding judge Mr Justice Abernathy. My lawyers claim piracy; Mr Gosling’s lawyers claim he once met me in curious circumstances in the Levant. Further updates to follow.”
Gosling does have previous experience with Doctor Who. Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith starred in Gosling’s directorial debut, Lost River, in 2014, and at the time the Hollywood star told Digital Spy: “I was writing and I heard [Smith’s] voice, Doctor Who was on TV.
“And he was doing a scene where he had a microphone and he was literally ruling the universe just telling all these spaceships how it was gonna be. I know just as an actor how hard a scene like that is because I’m pretty sure those spaceships weren’t there. He was just killing it and I’ve never really seen anyone about that looks like him or is like him.”
Gosling and Gatwa’s upcoming film Barbie is set to release 21st July 2023 and also stars Margot Robbie, Simu Liu and Will Ferrell amongst others.
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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