Doctor WhoshowrunnerRussell T. Davieshas broken his silence on previous rumors suggesting The Doctor’s new companion, played byMillie Gibsonin Ncuti Gatwa’s debut Christmas episode, had been fired from the show. It was reported that Gibson was set to unexpectedly leave the show after just one season, and her character of Ruby Sunday would be replaced by anew companion played byAndor’s Varada Sethu, but it seems that this was all just a case of crossed wires.
Speaking toSFX Magazine, Davies has now cleared up the reason for the confusion, citing a number of factors that caused the rumor mill to jump into action. According to the returning showrunner, this came from a combination of press speculation, an inability to confirm or deny such rumors, and the problems faced when filming multiple seasons before any of the episodes have aired. You can see his explanation below.
“Not leaving. Not at all. We were ordered for two years of a series off Disney, and we’re delivering two years, and the Ruby Sunday story literally spans those two years. We are planning [to] shoot the [season 2] finale in which Ruby has the most magnificent scenes, and Millie, it’s some of your most challenging material yet, isn’t it? It will all make sense once you see it play out.”
Doctor Who
Originally premiered in 1963, Doctor Who is a sci-fi series that follows a powerful being known as a Time Lord, referred to as the Doctor. Using an interdimensional time-traveling ship known as the TARDIS, the Doctor travels time and space with various companions as they solve multiple problems and help avert catastrophe as much as they almost cause it. Though the Doctor is always the same character, they experience regenerations, allowing them to be recast every few seasons as a unique immortal being with new personality traits.
Davies continued to explain the difficulties of shooting a new season ahead of the airing of the upcoming one.
“It’s very unfortunate that these things make the papers. We’re in a very difficult position, because you can’t answer rumour, you can’t speak to rumour, we can’t try and pin it down because the internet will just run away and will either misinterpret or will decide that the Princess of Wales has been replaced by four cats in a wig. So, it’s that you cannot begin to answer this sort of stuff. But you will see the love that we have for Millie and the extraordinary stories that Ruby’s about to go on over the next two years. I guarantee you that. That is a problem with shooting the second series while you’re still doing the first series. All sorts of problems can happen that way that we saw coming, but what do we do? Stop shooting? No. We’re making such a good show.”
Doctor Who is Entering a New Era…With 2 Companions
The new season ofDoctor Whois not your usual regeneration of the character, as following thedisappointments of Jodie Whittaker’s time in the TARDIS, and with the franchise now being co-funded by Disney, enough has changed to warrant the “Season 1” tag that is being given to the new episodes, which are also being referred to as Season 14, and as Season 40 for those combining in the entire history of the show that holds the Guinness World Record as the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world.
Initial reports of Gibson leaving the show were fueled by the casting reveal of Sethu in Gatwa’s second season as The Doctor. With very little being said by the team behind the series, the lack of details – the reason for which has now been addressed by Davies in his new comments – sawthe story of Gibson’s departure continue to grow. However, new images revealed last week showed all three stars working together on a table read for Season 15/Season 2. This confirmed that Gibson would not be leaving at all, and that this Doctor, like several other recent incarnations, will have multiple companions.
Doctor Who: Why It’s the Perfect Time to Start Watching
Although Doctor Who has existed for six decades, right now is the perfect time to start watching.
For a 60-year-old sci-fi series that has survived several low points, including an almost two-decade hiatus, Davies and his team are looking to get the franchise back on track after a few rocky years. A trailer recently released for the upcoming season teased some big adventures ahead for the new Time Lord, and it all begins this May.
Doctor Whoreleases its new season on May 10 in the U.S. on Disney+, and May 11 on the BBC in the U.K.
