Millie Gibson made her Doctor Who debut as new companion Ruby Sunday in the show's recent Christmas Special. The response to both the actress and character has been overwhelmingly positive, but it appears Gibson's role in the series moving forward will be smaller than expected.
According to Mirror Online, the actress is set to be replaced in the show's second season by Andor star Varada Seethu. The decision was reportedly made by showrunner Russell T Davies after filming had finished on the show's upcoming season 1.
However, the site reveals that Gibson will still appear throughout Davies' second batch of episodes, but only for what's described as a "handful of appearances." She also isn't expected to be part of the next festive special.
Doctor Who will return with its new season 1 (season 14 if you count it as part of the current era of "NuWho") this May with Gibson starring alongside Ncuti Gatwa in all eight episodes. However, in season 2, she'll show up in only three of them, with one expected to be a "standalone" story ending her time with the Doctor.
It's worth noting that Davies has said on numerous occasions that he'd like to see the Doctor with a new companion each season, and Bill Potts, for example, only stuck around for one batch of episodes during Peter Capaldi's stint as the Doctor. However, fans have grown used to many companions being around for the long haul, including Rose, Clara, and Amy.
That's allowed them to develop as characters as much as the Doctor him/herself, so we'll see whether this shortened run gives Gibson chance to make her mark.
Seethu will be best known to many of you for her role as Cinta in Andor but has also appeared in Doctor Foster, Jurassic World Dominion, Strike Back, and Now You See Me 2. She's already started filming in Cardiff and is 32; Gibson, meanwhile, is only 19. That should lead to two very different dynamics with the Time Lord.
"Millie Gibson has all but left now and there’s a brand new companion, which is really exciting," an insider says. "Russell is keeping things moving and isn’t letting the grass grow, that’s for sure. Varada is a real gem, Russell was just blown away by her talent. The cast and crew have really warmed to her and he’s sure the fans will too."
While this news does come from a British tabloid, they've long had the inside scoop on Doctor Who and frequently break stories like this in advance (during Davies' previous stint as showrunner, that included the casting of Catherine Tate, for example).
How do you feel about this change in companions?