BBC Studios have released images of Varada Sethu who will join the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday in Ncuti Gatwa's second season of Doctor Who which will air in 2025.

The pictures released today show the cast together at a read-through for an episode in the series currently being filmed. 

Like many Doctors who have come before him, one companion is not enough for the Fifteenth Doctor and in season two, he will have two by his side as Varada Sethu steps aboard the TARDIS joining Mille Gibson playing Ruby Sunday

Sethu is best known for her  role as Cinta Kaz in the Disney+ Original series “Andor.” Her additional credits include “Jurassic World Dominion,” “Annika” and “Strike Back.”

Sethu says:

Showrunner, executive producer and writer Russell T Davies says:

Currently in production, the second season of Doctor Who, the fifteenth since the revival in 2005 and the 41st since the series started in 1963, is set to debut in 2025 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ in the U.S. and around the world (where available).

As Doctor Who gears up for its global premiere this May, the episode titles have now been revealed for the season, as well as a guest star who has jumped aboard the TARDIS for the upcoming season.
 

Joining Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson in the Julie Anne Robinson directed 'Space Babies', is Golda Rosheuvel (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story) who joins Doctor Who as Jocelyn, who the Doctor and Ruby collide with, in their first adventure in the TARDIS together.

Russell T Davies, Showrunner said:

Rounding out the explosive double bill is previously announced Jinkx Monsoon who stars in ‘The Devil’s Chord’, the Doctor’s most powerful enemy yet. In this episode, the Doctor and Ruby step back to the sixties to meet The Beatles.

New episodes will then debut weekly across BBC iPlayer, BBC One and outside of the UK on Disney+ (where available), with the Steven Moffat penned adventure ‘Boom’ up next, followed by ‘73 Yards’, ‘Dot and Bubble’, ‘Rogue’, and a massive two-part finale spread across two weeks titled ‘The Legend of Ruby Sunday’ and ‘Empire of Death’.

Over the rest of the season there are an array of brilliant guest stars jumping aboard the TARDIS, including Callie Cooke, Dame Siân Phillips, Alexander Devrient, Bhav Joshi, Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy, Tachia Newall and Caoilinn Springall. They join the previously announced guest cast: Michelle Greenidge, Angela Wynter, Anita Dobson, Aneurin Barnard, Yasmin Finney, Jonathan Groff, Gwïon Morris Jones, Bonnie Langford, Genesis Lynea, Jemma Redgrave, Lenny Rush and Indira Varma.

A new trailer has been released featuring Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor.

The time vortex has been opened with a new trailer for Doctor Who’s upcoming season ahead of its simultaneous global premiere this May.

Audiences will journey the cosmos with the Fifteenth Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, and Ruby Sunday, portrayed by Millie Gibson, onboard the TARDIS — exploring the groovy sixties, the Regency era in England, war-torn futures and more!

Featured in the global trailer is a first look at Indira Varma’s character The Duchess,  who will be causing chaos in Ncuti Gatwa’s first season. Also seen for the first time is Callie Cooke who will be featured in an upcoming adventure.

Additional guest stars who can be seen include Anita Dobson, Yasmin Finney, Michelle Greenidge, Bonnie Langford, Jinkx Monsoon, Jemma Redgrave, Lenny Rush and Angela Wynter.

The trailer also features scenes from last year’s Christmas special The Church on Ruby Road, where audience first met the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday which is available to watch in the UK on BBC iPlayer and on Disney+, where available.

Viewers can also expect some more reveals coming very soon with Easter treats being lined up…

SEASON 1 TRAILER | Doctor Who

The BBC has released new imagery promoting the upcoming series of Doctor Who

It’s time to strap into the TARDIS and journey back to the sixties with The Doctor and Ruby Sunday as some new images are released from the new season of Doctor Who, which is due to simultaneously premiere globally this May.

New glimpses at the time travelling duo donning some iconic sixties style can be seen in the new images which highlight an episode set in the sixties.

This episode shows off the Doctor and Ruby’s distinctive style as they come face to face with the young Beatles.

Former Showrunner Steven Moffat is making a return to the new series of Doctor Who as he writes an episode due to air in Ncuti Gatwa’s first season as the Fifteenth Doctor.

Moffat has been lauded for his work on Doctor Who, first writing on the show when Russell T Davies revived it in 2005. He then went on to succeed as Showrunner, leading the show during the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi eras. Moffat is known for penning some of the most praised episodes in the history of the show as well as creating one of the most terrifying and iconic monsters, the Weeping Angels.

Outside of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat has been celebrated for co-writing and co-creating the multi-award-winning series Sherlock. His play, The Unfriend, recently completed a second West End run. 

Now he’s back, returning alongside Showrunner Russell T Davies, as he writes a whole new adventure for the upcoming season debuting this May.

Directing the adventure will be BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Julie-Anne Robinson, who also kicks off the season by directing the episode that succeeds The Church on Ruby Road that aired at Christmas. Robinson has previously directed some blockbuster television series including Bridgerton, Orange Is The New Black and Scandal, and is now jumping on board the TARDIS to front two of the episodes.

Speaking on his return to the Whoniverse, Steven Moffat says:

Speaking on directing episodes in the new season, Julie-Anne Robinson says: 

Doctor Who is set to make a return to screens worldwide on Saturday 11th May 2024.

Viewers inside the UK will be able to access two episodes from midnight on the BBC iPlayer, the first time episodes have made their premier on the 'on demand' service.  The episodes will be shown on BBC One later that day just before the annual Eurovision Song Contest Grand Final.

For those outside of the UK the episodes will be available on Disney+ from midnight UK time, 2300 GMT.

The new season of Doctor Who will see Ncuti Gatwa return as the Fifteenth Doctor, alongside Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday, it comes after they made their highly acclaimed debut on Christmas Day in The Church on Ruby Road. 

Within the upcoming series, audiences will see the Doctor and Ruby travel through time and space on adventures to unknown lands, to the Regency era in England, to outer space worlds and the sixties.

This season will also see the return of Michelle Greenidge as Carla Sunday, Angela Wynter as Cherry Sunday and Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood as well as featuring an array of special guest stars including Jinkx Monsoon, Aneurin Barnard, Yasmin Finney, Jonathan Groff, Bonnie Langford, Jemma Redgrave, Lenny Rush and Indira Varma with more to be announced soon. 

Russell T Davies, Showrunner said: 

The actor Richard Franklin, who played Captain Mike Yates in 43 episodes of Doctor Who, has died at the age of 87.

As one of the UNIT personnel, Franklin was a key character in the team which developed in the third Doctor era, led by Jon Pertwee, as a sidekick to Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and a love interest for Jo Grant. 

Richard Franklin made his debut as Mike Yates in the eighth series of Doctor Who, appearing in four of the series' five stories, Terror of the Autons, The Mind of Evil, The Claws of Axos and the story often designated as a favourite by members of the cast The Dæmons. 

The character was back in the following year appearing in Day of the Daleks and The Time Monster before returning in the last three episodes of series 10, The Green Death

In Pertwee's final season, the character of Yates found himself on the opposite side to the Doctor in Invasion of the Dinosaurs believing in a project to return the earth to a golden age. His final appearance in Planet of the Spiders saw the characters' redemption.

Richard Franklin died early on Christmas morning after a long illness. His death was announced by family friend Liam Rudden on Social Media

Richard Franklin was born in Marylebone, London, on 15 January 1936. He was educated at Westminster School and Oxford University before training as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. 

His early work was in the theatre where he spent six years in repertory theatre. His break into television came in 1969 when he was cast as Joe Townsend in the soap opera Crossroads, appearing in thirty-six episodes. 

Other roles included parts in Dixon of Dock Green, The Saint, Little Women, The Borgias and Blake's 7

He returned to Doctor Who in audio productions for BBC Audio and Big Finish and made a cameo in the 20th Anniversary story The Five Doctors.

Katy Manning, who played Jo Grant in the series was a good friend and collogue of Franklin, paid tribute on x.

Viewers in the United States and Canada can from today stream over 600 episodes of classic Doctor Who via Tubi. 

Audiences will now have access to episodes from the original series as well as the recreated animated versions of stories missing from the BBC archive.

The episodes will be available for free via On-Demand and a dedicated FAST Channel.

Fans can dive into the legacy series by Doctor, as well as through the “New to Who” collection which is a great entry point for new viewers to gently climb into the Tardis. 

Tubi is the most-watched free TV and movie streaming service in the U.S. As an ad-supported video-on-demand service, the company offers audiences a personalized experience and offers the world’s largest content library of over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 FAST channels. Tubi is part of the Tubi Media Group, a division of Fox Corporation that oversees the company’s digital businesses.

BBC Books have announced the novelisation of the first story of Doctor Who's 2005 revival, Rose, is to be released in a special illustrated version.

The release will celebrate the return of showrunner Russell T Davies to Doctor Who, and mark the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

Novelised by Davies from his original script, Rose is the story that relaunched Doctor Who for the 21st century.

Originally published in 2018, this deluxe edition of ROSE features illustrations from acclaimed artist Robert Hack.

The book will be published on 23rd November 2023 and is available to preorder on Amazon

The actor John Nettleton has died at the age of 94.

In 1989 John Nettleton played the Reverend Ernest Matthews in the Seventh Doctor story Ghost Light.

He was best known for his portrayal of the Whitehall Mandarin Sir Arnold Robinson in the comedy series Yes Minister and its successor Yes, Prime Minister. 

Born in South London in 1929, John Nettleton graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1951, the same year as Joan Collins and Jacqueline Hill. 

As a successful character actor, he had a 40-year career in British Television appearing in some of the best-known series of the time such as Softly Softly, Armchair Theatre, The Avengers, Please Sir!, Elizabeth R, Black Beauty, Upstairs Downstairs, The Pallisers, All Creatures Large and Small, The Professionals, Tales of the Unexpected, Brideshead Revisited, Crown Court, Minder, Rumpole of the Bailey, Midsomer Murders, and The Bill. 

Nettleton’s film work included A Man for All Seasons in the 1960s  and a 2005 adaptation of Oliver Twist

His voice is very familiar to a generation who grew up in the 1970s thanks to his frequent use as a narrator for illustrated stories told on the BBC Children's programme Blue Peter, 

His work at the National Theatre included Alan Bennett’s adaptation of The Wind in the Willows in 1990 and The Voysey Inheritance in 2006. He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and London's Old Vic. 

A statement from the theatrical agency Scott Marshall Partners said:

He is survived by his wife the actress Deirdre Doone, who he married in 1954, their three children and five grandchildren.