‘Doctor Who’ Star Dazzles In An Iconic Play—Stream Free For A Limited Time
Calling all live theater enthusiasts
Missing Ncuti Gatwa after his departure from “Doctor Who” last year? If you don’t live near the National Theatre in London, you might have missed out on seeing his next big project live.
But fret not! Unlike Broadway shows here in the States, the National Theatre has a more relaxed approach to releasing “proshots” (professionally shot stage productions). So don’t settle for a grainy bootleg—catch the National Theatre’s take on “The Importance of Being Earnest” this week on their official YouTube channel.
How to stream “The Importance of Being Earnest” (2024)
The official proshot of “The Importance of Being Earnest,” as performed by the National Theatre in 2024–2025, will be free on YouTube from March 12–18. Make sure you catch it during that time frame, because if you wait too long, you might miss it.
What to do if you miss the YouTube premiere
From March 19 onward, “The Importance of Being Earnest” (2024) will be available to stream with a subscription to National Theatre at Home. As of writing, a monthly subscription is $12.99/mo., and an annual subscription is $129.99/mo.
National Theatre at Home isn’t a streaming service that we normally cover at CableTV.com, but it’s full of fantastic shows starring famous British actors. If you’re interested in watching Jack Wolfe in “Next to Normal” or Andrew Garfield in “Angels in America,” you may want to give it a try. You can even catch another “Doctor Who” veteran, David Tennant, in “GOOD.”
It’s also fantastically accessible: Many titles are available with Audio Description or in British Sign Language.
All about “The Importance of Being Earnest” (2024)
Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People” first hit the stage in 1895. As a farcical comedy about men living double lives, it delighted Victorian audiences who were used to rigid social barriers.
The National Theatre in London opened its production in November 2024, and it ran through January 2025. This is the version that you’ll see hitting YouTube and streaming this March, although the show was staged again on the West End with a different cast in September 2025.
So who will you see in the upcoming proshot? Most notably: Ncuti Gatwa, who stepped away from “Doctor Who” at the end of Disney+’s second season. In “Earnest,” he plays Algernon Moncrieff, a “man about town” who learns of his friend Ernest’s secret identity.
But he’s not the only British icon you might recognize in this production. His co-star, Sharon D. Clarke, also had a brief run on “Doctor Who” and voiced Dulcibear in the “Wicked” movies. You might also recognize Hugh Skinner—the titular Ernest—from “Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” or “The Witcher.”
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