Joining a show as beloved as Doctor Who is no small thing, especially since it has been on our screens for over 60 years now. And so, actor Varada Sethu, who joins Doctor Who season 2 as new companion Belinda, was grateful that two former stars reached out to her to give advice.
In an interview with 12DOVE, Sethu reveals that once the casting news had been announced, two former companion actors got in touch – Millie Gibson (who played Ruby Sunday last season) and Mandip Gill (who portrayed Yas alongside Jodie Whittaker's Doctor).
As Sethu explains, their advice was simple – just lean into the madness: "The advice that they gave overall was that it is absolutely mad and super hectic, and just to lean straight into it, have as much fun as possible. And it was the best advice ever!"
Continuing, Sethu does add that although this advice was helpful, she still felt unprepared for the sheer scale of the show: "I feel like I didn't quite understand it at the time as I was like, 'Well, yeah, of course, it's going to be crazy'. But then you step into it and it's like 'Oh, it is as expansive as the universe'."
Although it did take Sethu time to get used to the sci-fi show's pace, she eventually found her feet: "There's a feeling of free-falling initially, but then you do just kind of fall into it and you have fun."
Of course, as any good Doctor Who fan will know, Sethu has indeed appeared in the show before. As you may recall, she portrayed a soldier named Mundy Flynn in last season's episode 'Boom,' with showrunner Russell T Davies revealing in an interview with 12DOVE that her new companion character Belinda is an ancestor of the marine.
In that same chat he also teased that we can expect "surprising revelations" when it comes to the connection between Sethu's two characters, so it is definitely something to keep an eye on.
The new season of Doctor Who arrives on April 12 via Disney Plus internationally and BBC iPlayer in the UK. For more that should be on your watch list, check out our guide to the new TV shows to look out for.
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