Into the silent PR abyss of late Sunday night (early Monday morning here), the BBC dropped news of Ncuti Gatwa taking on the role of the next Doctor Who. Or as it turns out, the next after David Tennant's second stint.

The announcement about who will play his companion, Millie Gibson, was made with more fanfare (and also some warning) during BBC's Children in Need event on a Friday. Her character's name is Ruby Sunday.

Missed opportunity?

Deliberate irony?

Meaningless coincidence?

Yeah, probably.

Like Ncuti, Millie isn't a nobody, coming to this role from a 3 year stint in popular UK soap Coronation Street.

Fame isn't a commodity Doctor Who has historically leaned on but it's probably not a coincidence that they've cast two young, well known actors from popular series.

Practically the rest of the entertainment industry leans on fame as a matter of course and there's nothing immoral in that.

So we won't hold it against them.

And we continue to be hopeful that Russell T. Davies will steer the series back on track.

Doctor Who is set to return in November 2023, with David Tennant and Catherine Tate at the helm for three specials before handing over the Tardis keys to Ncuti and Millie.

[ Main Image: Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. Credit: BBC. ]

References

Doctor Who (November 19, 2022). Meet the new companion, Millie Gibson! | Doctor Who. YouTube.

Doctor Who (November 19, 2022). Millie Gibson is the new Doctor Who companion, Ruby Sunday. BBC.

Flook, Ray (November 18, 2022). Doctor Who: BBC Introduces Millie Gibson as Companion Ruby Sunday. Bleeding Cool.