Varada Sethu will join Doctor Who as a new companion for Ncuti Gatwa’s second season as a Time Lord.
The Indian-born actress, who has had roles in Star Wars spin-off show Andor and the Strike Back series, will join the long-running BBC science fiction programme as a second partner for the 15th Doctor.
There had been reports that Sethu would join the cast to replace former Coronation Street actress Millie Gibson, who has played Gatwa’s companion Ruby Sunday since the Christmas episode The Church On Ruby Road, but the BBC has confirmed they will star opposite each other.
"Right now in the studio, shooting for 2025, we've got Ncuti, Millie and Varada fighting side by side - we need all three, because the stakes are higher than ever!” says #DoctorWho showrunner, executive producer and writer Russell T Davies
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) April 12, 2024
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Sethu said: “I feel like the luckiest person in the world.
“It is such an honour to be a part of the Whoniverse, and I’m so grateful to the whole Doctor Who family, because that is what they are, for welcoming me with open arms and making me feel so at home.
“I couldn’t ask for a better team than Ncuti and Millie to be on this adventure with, this is so much fun.”
Gatwa arrived over December last year when the 14th Doctor David Tennant split in half to reveal the Sex Education star.
The 31-year-old Barbie actor will have his first season as the Doctor in May which will see the arrival of Bridgerton’s Golda Rosheuvel in the first episode.
Sethu played rebel Cinta Kaz in Disney+’s Andor and has also been in science fiction film Jurassic World Dominion and Scottish crime drama Annika.
The new series with the 31-year-old actress is currently in production and the BBC released photos of her doing a table read with Gatwa and Gibson.
Showrunner, executive producer and writer Russell T Davies said: “I first worked with Varada on a BBC production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and it’s a joy to welcome her on board the Tardis.
“Right now in the studio, shooting for 2025, we’ve got Ncuti, Millie and Varada fighting side by side – we need all three, because the stakes are higher than ever.”
The long-running sci-fi show will have a double bill with the episode Space Babies, which follows the Doctor and Ruby Sunday as they meet Rosheuvel’s character Jocelyn during their first adventure inside the Tardis together.
This will be followed by The Devil’s Chord, featuring drag queen Jinkx Monsoon, which follows the Doctor and Ruby as they travel back to the 1960s to meet The Beatles.
Across the season an array of actors will appear including Welsh actress Dame Sian Phillips and former Waterloo Road star Tachia Newall, Mandy actress Michelle Greenidge, soap star Lady Anita May, Heartstopper’s Yasmin Finney, Glee actor Jonathan Groff and Bafta TV award-winner Lenny Rush.
The Devil’s Chord will be followed by episodes Boom, 73 Yards, Dot And Bubble, Rogue, The Legend Of Ruby Sunday and Empire Of Death.
The first two episodes of Doctor Who will land on BBC iPlayer at midnight on Saturday May 11 before airing on BBC One later in the day.
Episodes will drop on BBC iPlayer and BBC One each week following.
Outside the UK, Doctor Who begins streaming on May 10 on Disney+ at 7pm ET.
The second season of Gatwa in Doctor Who is set to debut in 2025 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.
