Ncuti Gatwa regenerates into Olly Alexander as the NT’s ‘Importance of Being Earnest’ transfers to London’s West End

Ncuti Gatwa’s time on Doctor Who proved to be pretty brief. But he didn’t put his feet up in the gap between his two seasons – theatre was his first love and he got straight back on that stage last Christmas to star in the National Theatre’s hallucinogenically camp take on Oscar Wilde’s classic ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, the first the NT had staged since the ’80s.

The Max Webster-directed production was a roaring great hit and now it’s set to transfer to the West End, replacing Mischief Theatre’s ‘The Comedy About Spies’ at the Noël Coward Theatre.

Gatwa’s not coming along though: whether he’d have been up for it is a moot point, as he’s already busy starring in the RSC’s new West End play Born with Teeth. 

However, a fine replacement has been found for the role of young ‘bachelor’ about town Algernon Montcrieff: it’s Olly Alexander, who hasn’t been in Doctor Who but did make his name as actor in ‘It’s A Sin’, another show by Russell T Davies.

Wilde’s play is very much an ensemble affair and there is no news on further casting at this stage, though we dare to dream that the mighty Sharon D Clarke will return as the formidable Lady Bracknell.

If you want to know a little more about what the production was like last time, then read our four-star review here.

The Importance of Being Earnest is at the Noël Coward Theatre, Sep 18-Jan 10 2026. 

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