Saturday TV Choice: Doctor Who (BBC One, 6.50pm)
Believe it or not, it’s 20 years since Russell T Davies first breathed new life into Doctor Who.
Back then, the show had been off air since 1989, apart from a TV movie in 1996, and many fans thought they would never see any new time-travelling adventures.
How wrong they were. Christopher Eccleston may only have lasted one season, but his ninth incarnation of the Doctor proved popular, and ratings were certainly high enough to warrant further series, with David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker and, following a brief return by Tennant for the show’s 60th anniversary specials, Ncuti Gatwa all taking a turn at the Tardis controls.
Gatwa is back again this weekend for his second season as the effervescent Time Lord, accompanied once more by Millie Gibson as companion Ruby Sunday; they’re all set to be joined by newcomer Varada Sethu as Belinda Chandra – it’s a good job the Tardis is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, otherwise it would be getting pretty crowded in there.
“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,” says Sethu, who’s also appeared in Hard Sun and Star Wars spin-off Andor. “I couldn’t ask for a better team than Ncuti and Millie to be on this adventure with, this is SO much fun!”
“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,” adds Davies, who returned as the programme’s showrunner after 13 years away in 2023. “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!”
When we first meet Belinda, she’s stuck, unable to return to Earth – and that’s where the Doctor and Ruby come in. They set out to help her, but a mysterious force prevents them from completing their journey home. Instead, they must face what the BBC is describing as “great dangers, ferocious enemies and wilder terrors than ever before”. Oo-er.
They will, however, receive help (and, perhaps, some hindrance) from a few very familiar guest stars, including Rylan, who plays himself, the co-host of the Interstellar Song Contest, with Alan Cumming (who would make an excellent Doctor if the opportunity ever arose) is set to provide the voice of villainous cartoon character Mr Ring-a-Ding.
Look out too for Rose Ayling-Ellis and Freddie Fox, while Anita Dobson, Bonnie Langford and Jemma Redgrave are among the Whoniverse returnees.
And if the series makes you long for more alien-related adventures, then fret not because we’re expecting to take a second trip into the Doctor’s extended world this year, courtesy of eagerly awaited spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, which will feature classic villains the Sea Devils.