Doctor Who companion Millie Gibson dropped from series and replacement named

19 January 2024 , 22:18

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Doctor Who companion Millie Gibson is being dropped from the BBC sci-fi show and will be replaced for Ncuti Gatwa’s second series by actress Varada Seethu.

The decision by showrunner Russell T Davies to write out the former Coronation Street star, who plays orphan Ruby Sunday, was made last year after filming on her first run ended. The shock twist will come as a surprise to fans who only watched her on-screen debut in the festive episode last month.

Now Millie, 19, will not appear in the 2024 Christmas special later this year and will make only a handful of appearances across Ncuti’s second series as the Doctor during 2025. The eight episodes she has filmed already will air from May, the BBC has announced. After that, it will not be Millie flanking him on his time-travels in the Tardis but new companion Varada, who has already started filming at the studios in Cardiff.

The actress, 32, has already enjoyed several swashbuckling roles in TV adventure series. She is best known for her role as Cinta in Disney’s 2022 Star Wars spin-off Andor, and has also appeared in three series of Sky’s action drama Strike Back, based on the books by Chris Ryan.

In 2016 she also had a role in the second series of smash-hit Doctor Foster, while her films include Jurassic World Dominion and heist movie Now You See Me 2. One BBC source said: “Varada is a real gem, Russell was just blown away by her talent. The cast and crew have really warmed to her and he’s sure the fans will too.”

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Millie Gibson made her debut as the Doctor's companion in the 2023 Doctor Who Christmas special (BBC/Bad Wolf)

The Indian-born actress, who grew up in Newcastle with her twin sister and doctor parents, also played DS Mishal Ali in the BBC’s 2017 apocalyptic drama Hard Sun. A guest companion is likely to accompany Sex Education actor Ncuti for his Christmas outing this year.

The decision for Ruby to exit so soon will shock fans who expected her to stretch out her time-travelling across at least two full series. When she and the Doctor burst onto the screen last month they proved popular, with 7.3million viewers watching in the first week of release, making it one of the BBC’s biggest hits of the year.

In the past, some companions have only stayed for one year, including Pearl Mackie as Bill Potts, while others, including Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald, have stayed for longer stints. Coleman lasted for four years, first appearing alongside Matt Smith then staying to work with 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi. Other companions to last three years or more include Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, Karen Gillan as Amy Pond and Mandip Gill as Yasmin Khan.

Millie Gibson's first full series of Doctor Who will be aired from May this year (James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios)

Following Russell’s decision to write her character out, teen actress Millie filmed for three months before Christmas. She has now almost finished on the show and will only be back “to tie up loose ends” in the coming weeks, according to insiders. “Millie Gibson has all but left now and there’s a brand new companion, which is really exciting,” one said. “Russell is keeping things moving and isn’t letting the grass grow, that’s for sure.”

In next year’s series her character is expected to appear in just three of the eight episodes, with one of them a standalone story wrapping up Ruby Sunday’s journey with the Doctor.

Millie is best known as Weatherfield’s troubled Kelly Neelan. She quit the soap in 2022 after three years on the cobbles and was announced as companion Ruby later that year. This week, while filming on Doctor Who has resumed in Cardiff following the Christmas break, the actress has been posting pictures from her holiday in Costa Rica.

After landing the role of Ruby, she said she was “beyond honoured”, describing it as “a dream come true” and calling Ncuti “fabulous”. At the time, she declared: “I will do everything to try and fill the boots the fellow companions have travelled in before me.”

Ncuti said of his companion: “Millie is full of talent, strength, she has a cheeky sparkle in her eye and is sharp as a razor.This adventure is going to be so wild and so fun, I cannot wait to sail the universe with Millie.”

And showrunner Russell agreed: “It’s the great honour of my job to find the next generation of talent. As a Coronation Street fan, I’ve seen Millie survive chases, guns and sieges, but that’s nothing compared to what lies ahead for Ruby Sunday.”

The upcoming 14th series is hugely important for the BBC as it’s the first one under the new deal with Disney, which has meant a cash injection allowing for bigger budgets and better special effects.