Turns out Doctor Who isn’t replacing companions after all

Ruby Sunday’s safe for now! Previously, it was reported that a new companion would replace Millie Gibson on Doctor Who. However, those rumors—which originated in The Mirror, so it was always a grain of salt situation—turned out to be slightly inaccurate. News out of Whoville today is that Varada Sethu (Andor) will actually join Gibson as a second companion to Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor in the second series of the show’s Disney+ era.

“I feel like the luckiest person in the world. It is such an honour to be a part of the Whoniverse, and I’m so grateful to the whole Doctor Who family—because that is what they are—for welcoming me with open arms and making me feel so at home,” Sethu said in a statement. “I couldn’t ask for a better team than Ncuti and Millie to be on this adventure with, this is SO much fun!”

Showrunner Russell T. Davies added, “I first worked with Varada on a BBC production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and it’s a joy to welcome her on board the TARDIS. Right now in the studio, shooting for 2025, we’ve got Ncuti, Millie and Varada fighting side by side – we need all three, because the stakes are higher than ever!”

In January, The Mirror claimed that Davies had made the decision to write Gibson off the show at the end of filming her first series, describing it as a “shock twist.” The most shocking bit about it was that at the time, we’d only seen one episode with Gibson and Gatwa together, so it was a bit jarring to already be looking towards her departure. However, given that many companions over the course of the show’s long history only stuck around for one full season (Martha, Bill, and Dan, to name a few in the modern era), it didn’t seem unreasonable that she might depart.

Of course, all of the speculation was happening (and still is) when we’ve barely gotten to see Gatwa in action. Though his second season has already gone into production, the 14th season doesn’t begin airing until May 11. That said, since the speculation has already begun, let’s take it a little further: maybe the truth about Sethu being a replacement or an additional companion lies somewhere in between. We can look to the example of another young, plucky, blonde Davies character, Rose Tyler, who left after the second season and then returned for guest appearances in the fourth. The Who source told The Mirror in January that Gibson had “all but left,” meaning perhaps her storyline in the 15th season sees her getting written out in some way for plot reasons, leaving Sethu as the only companion. Maybe Ruby is only there for the first part of the season, or maybe she leaves and comes back in some fashion like Rose did. Whatever the case, Davies surely has something juicy and dramatic cooking to put those companions in peril.