After weeks of rumors, earlier this year the BBC confirmed that for Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor would be accompanied by not one, but two companions in his second season of Doctor Who.
Joining Gatwa and a returning Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday is Andor star Varada Sethu, who will be joining the TARDIS crew for season 2. But how does that change the dynamic, given that the duo have now become a trio?
According to the cast, not only does it shake things up, but it means that the show is only going to get sexier too. Look, it's their words not mine, as Gibson laughs "bigger the better, more the merrier, and the hotter", whilst Gatwa jokingly adds "yes, we are all really hot".
Amongst the giggles, the mischievous pair also tell 12DOVE that now that their numbers have grown, we the audience are in even more safe hands. As Gatwa states: "The universe is safe. We have got three of us saving the universe now, it's nice, Varada brings a lot of fun energy in."
Reassuring us further, Gibson emphasizes "so consider yourself safe". However, given that Doctor Who continually sees our heroes battling menacing monsters and terrifying villains, I'm not taking their word on that yet...
Before we reach all that, we have season 1 to enjoy first, which showrunner Russell T Davies is already teasing has "the most devastating finale". As he told SFX magazine last month: "Literally, the biggest finale ever. There’s some shots of that in the trailers coming up. Oh my god, you’re gonna die."
Wanting to be reassured that the conclusion of this season of Doctor Who will in fact not be the death of us, 12DOVE asked Gatwa and Gibson what we need to do in order to be emotionally prepared for what is to come. The pair told us to have "at least two boxes of tissues" on hand, with Gatwa emphasizing that it will make audiences cry.
He said: "It’s tough… even just thinking about the end! It’s a tearjerker especially for… oh, he’s such a f-er that Russell, because he’s so good at lulling you in. It's all 'happy happy happy happy, joy joy joy joy' then suddenly devastate you - or the other way around. So, you can’t expect anything other than to cry."
Continuing, Gibson teased that there are two moments which were particularly hard for her to shoot: "There are two scenes in it that were very hard for me personally to film."
Okay then, we will make sure to get the tissues ready!
Doctor Who season 1 will premiere simultaneously on BBC iPlayer on May 11 in the UK and Disney Plus internationally on May 10 with a double bill. New episodes will then air weekly - stay up to date with exactly when with our Doctor Who release schedule.
For more from our interviews, here's showrunner Davies on whether we will one day see a musical episode and Gatwa on why Steven Moffat's 'Boom' is his favorite one of this season.
