Whovians, prepare! Doctor Who is returning to screens with a star-studded cast – but series boss Russell T. Davies has revealed one of the show’s episodes may not even be aired.
In its latest season, Doctor Who delivers its own sci-fi rendition of the Eurovision Song Contest – but the real-life competition, along with the FA Cup, could push the beloved BBC show off the air.
Ncuti Gatwa reprises his role as the 15th Doctor in the newest season of Doctor Who, with his alter ego earning a new companion after Ruby Sunday’s (Millie Gibson) departure from the TARDIS. But another handful of familiar faces are also set to bask in the Doctor Who spotlight, from Anita Dobson – who’s reprising her role as Mrs Flood to Rose Ayling-Ellis.
Reality star-turned-broadcaster Rylan Clark also pops up in episode six this season, The Interstellar Song Contest. However, Rylan’s episode is due on screens at the end of Eurovision week, on Saturday, May 17, but may not air if The FA Cup final goes to extra time and penalties.
“The FA Cup is going live on BBC One, and then you have Eurovision going live in the evening, we’re squeezed in the middle,” showrunner Russell T. Davies said. “We don’t know if we’ll even be transmitted that day. It will be on iPlayer but you’ll have to sit through a football match to know whether Doctor Who will be out that night.”
But he enjoys the thrill of uncertainty. “They asked if we wanted to move it,” Russell recalls, “But I said, ‘That’s the most exciting thing I’ve ever heard. Let’s find out!’”
Ncuti Gatwa has warned fans that his Time Lord is no longer the bright-eyed hero they once knew. “You can see a change in The Doctor in one of the episodes, we already explored it during the Christmas special,” Ncuti says. “He’s been around for hundreds of years and has picked up some anger. But the big bad this season? That’s just as exciting.”
A lot has changed since Ncuti, 32, first stepped into the TARDIS. The biggest shift? The Doctor has a new companion. Varada Sethu, who made her Whoniverse debut last year as Mundy Flynn in Boom, returns as Belinda Chandra – Mundy’s ancestor.
For Varada, 32, the return is a dream come true. “I was devastated to leave because I’d had such a beautiful time,” she says, adding that she feared the Hollywood strikes would harm her career. “I thought I wasn’t going to work again.”
However, showrunner Russell T. Davies had other ideas. “I watched Boom about 50 times,” Russell, 61, says. “I thought it was a shame to say goodbye to such a good actor. We’d auditioned a lot of Belindas before and it wasn’t clicking.”
Now, Varada is woven into the Whoniverse as pragmatic nurse Belinda. In the season opener, The Robot Revolution , she is kidnapped by alien robots who declare her their queen.
Their planet – named MissBelindaChandra after Belinda herself – is in crisis, torn apart by a brutal civil war between the robots and the humans.
But she’s not alone for long. The Doctor, deeply involved in the planet’s uprising, has been searching for her for months. Their eventful journey back takes them from 1950s Miami (where they’re turned into cartoon characters) to Lagos, Nigeria. “In this situation,” Ncuti says, “he goes somewhere on Earth that makes him feel at home. It was really beautiful.”
While Belinda takes centre stage, former companion Ruby Sunday faces the fallout of her decision to leave the TARDIS. At the end of the previous season, Ruby chose to reconnect with her long-lost mother. But life after time travelling isn’t easy.
“She has PTSD from all these adventures,” Millie says. “We see how Ruby is getting on with her family but she still feels lost.” Her story brings a fresh face to the cast – Jonah Hauer-King plays Conrad Clark, a key figure in Ruby’s journey.
Meanwhile, another special guest star will make an appearance. Alan Cumming stars in episode two as Mr Ring-a-Ding, a singalong cartoon, who lives in Sunny Town with his friend Sunshine Sally.
