“I'm just so scared about spoilers; I've given away so many spoilers in my life,” Ncuti Gatwa laughed during his first San Diego Comic-Con panel on Friday, July 26th, during a Hall H panel all about Doctor Who. The actor behind the fifteenth Doctor was joined by his companion, Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday), plus showrunner, writer, and executive producer Russell T Davies. It was an all-out love fest, one that was full of announcements, teases for the upcoming season, and some behind-the-scenes anecdotes. But when it came to major reveals about what’s to come, Ncuti leaned on his Companion and the creative driving force behind his era of Doctor Who. You don’t need a TARDIS to relive it, because I’m here to deliver all of the highlights of “Into the Whoniverse: A Doctor Who Panel.”
(Disney/Richard Harbaugh)
“I'm here to make an announcement in Hall H,” Russell T Davies said early on in the hour-long panel. “We have got a new spin-off coming from the Whoniverse, a brand new show. What happens when the Doctor isn't in your town? That's what this show's about. How is the world coping? And so we've got a five-part spin-off coming called The War Between the Land and the Sea, which is the story of the Sea Devils from Doctor Who, which are creatures from 1972. They’re a race that lives beneath the oceans, they wake up and they see the state of the oceans that we have put it in, we have wrecked the place, and it is war. And it's war on an epic scale. It's got a tremendous cast. I'm here to announce that it is starring Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. They have both been in Doctor Who before, they're not playing the same parts. This is not Midshipman Frame teaming up with Tish Jones, which I would write, actually. We're so very lucky to have them. Also coming in The War Between the Land and Sea is Jemma Redgrave as Kate Stewart and Alexander Devrient as Colonel Ibrahim. That's all the cast announced so far, but we're so excited to start shooting in August, and it's going to be shooting across the world.”
We’re currently between seasons, but The Doctor will be back this Christmas, as is a longstanding tradition for the series. “I am so sad I can't be at San Diego Comic-Con with you all,” said Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan, who sent a video message to announce her casting in the next Christmas Special. “I am so excited for you to meet my character, Joy—a determined woman whose life is changed forever when she meets The Doctor. I had the best time shooting this episode with Ncuti and the whole crew. I cannot wait for you all to meet Joy.” We then got to see what felt like the opening sequence of the new special, which found The Doctor traveling through time with a tea tray containing a pumpkin latte and a cheese toastie, ultimately finding who he was looking for – Joy – in the present on a train.
During the fan Q&A portion of the panel, Russell T Davis made one thing clear: Millie Gibson is not leaving the show. “Life is just madness when she discovers her mom,” he explained about Ruby Sunday’s decision to step back from being The Doctor’s regular companion, but clarifying that she’s not leaving the show. “She hasn't met her dad, who's offstage still, and it's just not the right time to go off to Mars with the Doctor… She's actually going to build a whole new life with her mom, her birth mom, Carla. There's more of that to come; it's very important to say that. She left the Doctor, but Millie is coming back, and Ruby is coming back in the second season… It's mind-shattering what you go through with The Doctor, and trying to build a new life after that is very hard, so that's a great source of story. You'll see all that covered.” And that segueus beautifully into who will be Th Doctor’s next regular Companion, Belinda Chandra played by Varada Sethu (Andor).
“I have an announcement,” Millie Gibson excitedly added. “Jonah Hauer-King (The Little Mermaid) will be joining Ruby's journey. I've been hanging out with Prince Eric for a while, and it's been lovely. He'll be a part of Season 2, which is really exciting.”
Beyond that, there were some hypothetical questions for the stars, starting with fantasy guest casting. “Alex Kingston,” said Ncuit Gatwa. “Gillian Anderson,” Millie Gibson added. Another question was about alien beings from the Whoniverse they’d like to encounter. “I'm desperate to meet a Dalek,” Ncuti shared. “The Silurians,” replied Millie, with Russell interjecting that they’re related to the Sea Devils, another plug for the announced spin-off.
And the next season will also offer up more musical moments. “It's part of the show going forward,” the showrunner promised. “There's more music. There's a very… It's not a musical episode, but there's an episode that's packed full of songs. I should say no more without giving away too much.”
The rest of the panel was more or less a victory lap for all involved in the global success of the most recent season of Doctor Who, which streamed globally outside of the UK on Disney+. “Do you know the best surprise I had?” Russell T Davies offered. “When ‘Rogue’ was going out at 7:00, I was watching and I get to the scene with The Doctor singing Kylie Minogue. I'm not kidding, my phone beeped and I thought, ‘Who's texting me in the middle of Doctor Who?’ I picked up my phone and it was Kylie Minogue, who was watching. She went, ‘Oh my God, The Doctor's singing my song!’ And I said, ‘Please leave me alone, Doctor Who’s on.’ The thought that she was watching Doctor Who. Aren’t you busy? Aren’t you're glamorous or something? It always takes you by surprise.” Kylie Minogue’s hit song “Can't Get You Out of My Head” received a Regency-era adaptation in the episode.
Ncuti Gatwa revealed that in preparing for the role, he went through 60 years of Doctor Who history to better understand the 14 Doctors that came before him. “I wanted to bring a sense of fun,” Ncuti said. “He's a little bit emotional, I don't know if you've noticed. I wanted him to just feel everything because he gets to experience everything. But I had a long list of incredible actors to draw from. And it was like, how the hell am I going to match up to the people that have come before me? I tried to steal a little something from all of them, but make it my own.” But the key to unlocking his portrayal of The Doctor truly came from the casting of his companion. “Millie's characterization of Ruby informed me of how The Doctor and companion probably would be. It just felt like two cheeky school kids in the back of the school bus but with big hearts that want to save people and be naughty.”Russell T Davies echoed that sentiment, saying, “We got a bus from the hotel to the Hall, and they both sat at the back and were naughty.”
From Millie Gibson’s perspective, the kinship she shared with The Doctor happened quickly and organically during the audition process and pre-production. “I remember the first episode we actually filmed together was the Christmas special, and [Russell] kept having to remind us, ‘Guys, they don't know each other yet,’” the actress behind Ruby Sunday laughed. “We were like best friends already. It was instant. I kind of walked into that room being like, ‘Oh God, are we going to have chemistry?’ And then I met Ncuti, and I was like, ‘Wow, he's such a charismatic guy. Maybe he just has chemistry with everyone.’ It was magic.”
The magic of Doctor Who will continue through the next Christmas special, next season, and the spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, all coming to BBC in the UK and Disney+ everywhere else.