After Jodie Whittaker bid farewell to the series in “The Power of the Doctor,” Doctor Who is getting ready for a refresh. Russell T Davies is returning as showrunner after years away and Ncuti Gatwa will be playing the Fifteenth Doctor.
But what’s a Doctor without a companion? We now have news on that. According to the official Doctor Who website, joining Gatwa in the TARDIS will be actor Mille Gibson, who will play a companion with the appropriately whimsical name of Ruby Sunday.
The 18-year-old Gibson has made a name for herself on the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street. “Whilst still being in total disbelief, I am beyond honoured to be cast as the Doctor’s companion,” she said in a statement. “It is a gift of a role, and a dream come true, and I will do everything to try and fill the boots the fellow companions have travelled in before me. And what better way to do that than being by the fabulous Ncuti Gatwa’s side, I just can’t wait to get started.”
After David Tennant returns, Millie Gibson will play the companion on Doctor Who
Gatwa weighed in as well:
"Millie just is the companion. She is full of talent, strength, she has a cheeky sparkle in her eye and is sharp as a razor. From the moment she walked into the room she captured all of our attention with her effervescence and then solidified that attention with the sheer torque of her talent. This adventure is going to be so wild and so fun, I cannot WAIT to sail the universe with Millie!"
Gibson bears some resemblance to a young Billie Piper, who played the Doctor’s companion Rose Tyler when Davies first rebooted Doctor Who back in the mid-2000s. That could be intentional. Before Gatwa takes over, David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor years ago back when Russell was showrunner, will feature in a number of specials as doctor number fourteen, and Yasmin Finney will play a character known, intriguingly, as Rose Tyler.
All of this new Doctor Who stuff will be coming along next year.
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h/t The A.V. Club