Two out of three companions leaving Doctor Who

Bradley Walsh (Graham) and Tosin Cole (Ryan) are both leaving Doctor Who after the upcoming holiday special, but Jodie Whittaker is in for the long haul.

First, the good news: we officially know when Doctor Who will air its annual holiday special. “Revolution of the Daleks” will drop on New Year’s Day, the first new episode we’ve had in far too long.

And now the bad news: according to showrunner Chris Chibnall, that episode will mark the final appearance of actors Bradley Walsh (Graham) and Tosin Cole (Ryan) as series regulars, meaning that the TARDIS will be a lot less crowded come season 13.

“I can tell you that it’s very emotional, I think we’ve all been in tears watching it,” Chibnall said of the episode on a virtual panel last month. “It’s a really important part of the mix of the special, where you get lots of thrills, lots of spills, lots of humour, lots of Daleks, and lots of emotion. It’s hard, but we don’t shy away from what it means for this family to have its final moments together. And it was emotional off screen, it’s emotional on screen, and it’s an incredible thing.”

Walsh and Cole are sounding off too, with Walsh releasing a statement to BBC America about his time on the show:

"I have absolutely loved it, loved it. Wales has become like a second home to me, and being included in something so iconic and ground breaking with the advent of having a female Doctor, that whole thing where Chibnall sold that to me, it didn’t disappoint and I loved working with those guys. I love working with Chris Chibnall, that man is a genius but to also be working with Mandip and Tosin and of course Jodie is just extraordinary."

Cole also looked back on his tenure fondly. “It’s been an honour to work on such a cultural institution with fans across the world,” he said. “The people like me on the screen come and go, but it’s the people behind the scenes and the fans that will always be there keeping the Doctor Who world alive and exciting.”

We don’t know how Ryan and Graham will be written out of the show. Companions past have met all kinds of interesting fates. Maybe they’ll just decide they’ve had enough of interstellar travel and want to rest on good old terra firma for awhile. Maybe they’ll be trapped in another dimension. Maybe they’ll die…but hopefully not.

And there’s always the possibility that they could return. “You’ll have to see, won’t you?” Chibnall said, I assume while suppressing a mischievous giggle.

In any case, that leaves Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan) as the Doctor’s only companion going forward. We don’t know how much longer she’ll stick around, but Jodie Whittaker, at least, doesn’t see herself vacating the role of the Doctor anytime soon. “I haven’t even looked at another role since the Doctor, apart from doing [documentary] Who Do You Think You Are? earlier this year,” she said the other day. “To even question an end point [of Doctor Who] would be too upsetting.”

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h/t The A.V. Club