Jonathan Groff, the American actor who famously voiced Kristoff and Sven in Disney’s Frozen franchise, is joining the cast of the upcoming season of Doctor Who.
He is set to star in a key role, though further details about who he might play have not yet been revealed.
“I am so thrilled to jump into the extraordinary mind of Russell T Davies and watch the incredible Ncuti Gatwa soar in this iconic role!” said Groff.
“This is an incredible coup, and a great honour, to get such a huge star striding on to our set,” said Davies, who is returning to be the showrunner of the 14th season of Doctor Who. “So strap on your space boots, this is going to be a blast!”
Groff previously starred in Hamilton on Broadway in 2015, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award, and in the Fox series Glee from 2009 to 2015. He has also featured in films American Sniper (2014), The Matrix Resurrections (2021) and Knock at the Cabin (2023).
Doctor Who season 14, which is set to premiere over Christmas, is going to be a huge moment for the franchise. Not only is Sex Education star Gatwa replacing Jodie Whittaker, who played the lead role between 2018 to 2022, but Davies is also returning as the series’ showrunner.
Millie Gibson, who starred as Kelly Neelan in Coronation Street, will be Gatwa’s new companion, Ruby Sunday.
Screenwriter Davies left Doctor Who in 2009, though he has written some sporadic episodes. But season 14 marks his full-time return to the franchise, thrilling many Doctor Who fans. Davies famously helped the BBC relaunch Doctor Who in 2005, 34 years after the first production of Doctor Who had been cancelled.
“It is lovely. I only came back because I had things to do, things I wanted to do and stories I wanted to write,” he said on Jessie and Lennie Ware’s Table Manners podcast in March. “It doesn’t feel like I am going back, as cliché as it sounds. It feels like I am going forward.”
“The fact that I have loved that show my entire life and it is my first memory in life, not my first memory of television but my first memory in life… and remember all those years later it becomes the number one show in Britain it’s like, how lucky am I? Very, very lucky,” he said.
There will also be three 60th-birthday Doctor Who specials, which are set to be released in November 2023. They will see Catherine Tate and David Tennant return as Donna Noble and the tenth Doctor.
“The Doctor and Donna parted ways when the Doctor had to wipe Donna’s memory, making her forget him, in order to save her life,” teased the BBC about the specials. “He left her family with a warning: if ever she remembers, she will die. But with the two coming face to face once more, the big question is, just what brings the Doctor and Donna back together?”
“It looks impossible – first, we announce a new Doctor, and then an old Doctor, along with the wonderful Donna, what on earth is happening? Maybe this is a missing story. Or a parallel world. Or a dream, or a trick, or a flashback. The only thing I can confirm is that it’s going to be spectacular, as two of our greatest stars reunite for the battle of a lifetime,” said Davies.
