A future reference to 15th Doctor Who actor Ncuti Gatwa may appear in 1983 techno thriller WarGames. At 29 minutes, 9 seconds, David (Matthew Broderick) is trying to impress Jennifer (Ally Sheedy) with his skill at patching into remote systems using a computer and modem. The word "GJATWA" appears on-screen for a flight listing. I thought the spelling close to Gatwa, who played the British science fiction TV series character between 2023-2025.
I mention indicators in WarGames that the modern era could be a subject, the presence of actor James Tolkan may be relevant. Tolkan is Wigan in WarGames & known for playing Principal Strickland in time travel trilogy Back To The Future (1985-1990). A fictional version of a California town in 2015 is shown in the '89 sequel. Tolkan was also in fantasy action film Masters Of The Universe in 1987, this has been remade and will hit theaters in the summer of 2026.
Several cast of WarGames worked with Doctor Who actors:
- Matthew Broderick and 1996 Doctor Who movie villain Eric Roberts were together in 1996 Jim Carrey comedy, The Cable Guy. Roberts was series baddie The Master in the one off special featuring Paul McGann.
- Two arcade cabinets for Atari's Tron can be seen WarGames. David Warner, a prominent actor in British horror & sci-fi circles played games Master Sark in the 1982 movie. Warner was also in time travel movie Time After Time in 1980 with Back To The Future's Mary Steenburgen & Malcolm McDowell.
- WarGames director John Badham and Ally Sheedy later collaborated on Short Circuit in 1986 which featured the wisecracking Johnny Five robot, who was made lifelike after being struck by a bolt of lightning.
- G.W. Bailey of that film played a security guard in Mannequin (1987) where actress Kim Cattrall played a shopfront window clotheshorse come to life. She was in Rosebud in 1975 with Doctor Who Actress Lalla Ward.
