Correct. If not for the fact it's the weekend I feel like a statement would've dropped already. But unless Rusty goes on Instagram and makes the announcement there we may be waiting until Monday morning.
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Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor |OT| Ncuti Stars (Season 1 debuts on May 10th/11th)
- Thread starter Dwebble
- Start date
- Video/Streaming OT
Correct. If not for the fact it's the weekend I feel like a statement would've dropped already. But unless Rusty goes on Instagram and makes the announcement there we may be waiting until Monday morning.
It's impossible to say at this junction why only one season, perhaps they wanted to drop the comparisons to Rose or keep a detachment to companions in general? I have a hard time imagining they'd change the script so suddenly or cast someone who wasn't available for multiple seasons, so it must have been planned early on, or we'll hear something eventually.
One interesting thing which is just my speculations and in no way meaningful beyond that, Ncuti did a radio one interview, and when Millie's name got mentioned, there wasn't as much gushing as I'd expect from a co-worker, like i'm probably reading too much into it, and it wasn't like he wasn't nice, but I did think based on the chemistry they have in the special, more would have been said.
I think we can all agree, if this was planned from early on, we won't hear anything official, and if it's sudden, we'll get a statement. I just hope they didn't have to come up with a storyline "on the spot" in order to adjust for the change, and hopefully it's an amicable ending for Millie leaving.
One interesting thing which is just my speculations and in no way meaningful beyond that, Ncuti did a radio one interview, and when Millie's name got mentioned, there wasn't as much gushing as I'd expect from a co-worker, like i'm probably reading too much into it, and it wasn't like he wasn't nice, but I did think based on the chemistry they have in the special, more would have been said.
I think we can all agree, if this was planned from early on, we won't hear anything official, and if it's sudden, we'll get a statement. I just hope they didn't have to come up with a storyline "on the spot" in order to adjust for the change, and hopefully it's an amicable ending for Millie leaving.
ive not been following filming of the seasons but i thought they were well underway with filming next year's series. How is this only leaking now?
also has this video of the swearing gotten out or is the only way we know about it through the radio times piece?
also has this video of the swearing gotten out or is the only way we know about it through the radio times piece?
Ncuti literally talked to the press about it but I don't think there is video.
As for how it got out now, presumably they've been shooting with Millie for a couple of episodes and it only just became impossible to not tie Varada to the show as the primary companion via external location shoots.
does seem a bit odd that this is coming out now and its easy to jump to conclusions. i think we will know when the new companion comes in if she was axed or it was part of the plan.
this 18 month gap between filming and airing is pretty unique. what was the gap like in prior new who season?
In every other version of the show they have very much been laying down the track in front of the speeding train; like when a series made its debut, they hadn't get finished filming the final block of that same series, etc. Or to give another great example, when they finished Name of the Doctor (series 7 finale), the script actually just ended on Clara entering the Doctor's Time Stream, with no cliffhanger... because not a word of Day of the Doctor had been written. Then they went back and wrote and picked up the ending literal weeks before it aired, once DOTD had been figured out.
The only exceptions really are the first series of each showrunner - ie Moffat had more time to 'dial in' Series 5 because it was being written concurrently with the back half of series 4, and then made before the Tenannt specials aired, etc.
Happy for a new companion actress, was starting to feel like Millie Gibson was on the role forever
It's complicated. One-season companions are decently common overall but they're not "normal", just like a companion sticking around for 3 years and their Doctor's entire lifespan has happened but isn't the norm either.
they seem to have gone from one extreme to the other. im sure its a lot easier on everyone involved in making the show having the long lead time but it would have been nice if they could have found some way to announce this officially, without it leaking out like this. did they think the set leaks werent going to twig on that there was a different person running around with Ncuti.
They absolutely knew set leaks would result in this. They're used to that by now.
I guess in a way whatever story you arc you might have planned for the character is basically "spoiled" since everyone knows it'll have to wrap up by the end of the season.
Interesting... Having really only experienced Capaldi and Whittaker, it felt like Capaldi inherited Clara and then got his "own" companion before the entire cast turned over. I just kind of assumed companions and Doctors were usually attached to each other.
It's not abnormal, at least.
Donna was a very popular companion who only really got one season until recently.
In modern Who, Clara, and then Yaz in the Whittaker era, staying 3 series was abnormal. Even Amy and Rory pushing 3 series was different for modern Who. I think Davies wants to get back to the Doctor meeting someone new every series to recapture his original era. If audiences, new and returning, don't have to worry about evolving character arcs, then they can jump in and out whenever.
Edit: I should clarify a Doctor having companions carry over majority of their run was not normal until the Smith era. Obviously Rose had 2 series, but she had a Doctor regeneration in between that.
Wasn't sold on Ruby after the Christmas Special, but wanted to see more. Seems a shame to let it get out like this before the new series even properly starts.
And nothing wrong with a 1-series companion. We got the best duo on all of New Who for just 1 series.
v
And nothing wrong with a 1-series companion. We got the best duo on all of New Who for just 1 series.
I think the outlier here is that it's a new doctor, normally their first companion sticks with them until they've had a couple seasons, when we get a companion for a single season, it tends to be for an well established doctor.
I think it's just a new experience for them, to be honest. The switch isn't just arbitrary - CG now has longer lead times than it did in 2005, and so the lead times have generally gotten longer as the years have gone on - they were roughly the same for Eccleston, Tennant, and Smith, but Capaldi's era had more breathing room, and I think you can really tell. Whittaker's had a longer lead time throughout too, but it was complicated by covid.
So this is just part of a slowing down/lengthening of the process that's gone on for years, but now you also have the Disney involvement on top as well, and the fact they're dubbing the show into like 15 languages for a simultaneous release. They need the breathing room. It's like, they're filming Season 2 right now, yes, and have been for months, but Season 1 still isn't technically finished - people like Davies and Collinson are flitting back and forth between seeing rushes and doing on the fly changes to Season 2 as it films (and presumably writing/prepping Season 3), but at the very same time they're doing edits, music, cg reviews etc on the series that starts in a few months still.
Like, in real terms, the gap between an episode being locked and finished and it being broadcast probably won't be too much longer than it was before, maybe a month at most. But the process itself is now longer and more complicated.
Unfortunately, probably the most likely stage for accidental leaks is also the first. Like, at the filming stage, all it takes is for someone to be seen. If Catherine Tate is spotted in a Starbucks in Cardiff, people will connect the dots that she might be on Doctor Who again. It's that risky.
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Just to expand to this, as it's a major reason for being ahead but as an aside I've not really seen discussed elsewhere, one of the interesting things about the lead time is that it's also cost related with the CG. I think this was hinted in the commentaries but just to go explicit on it. You can go closer to the wire, you can do stuff after filming and make changes, but it costs more.
So by making all your decisions upfront, much clearer shot by shot storyboards, before you start filming, you can get the work started earlier and you also aren't going to spend money later as much for changes. I've heard people talk about how yeah, that's why CG costs balloon, because it's used as a way to put off making decisions on all sorts of things and they have ripple effects. Be explicit on the needs up front, you get more for your money. So plots need to be planned more, monsters designed earlier, scripts storyboarded up front, etc etc.
I'd put money on Millie being replaced being down to a story beat. She's not some random happenstance companion - she was left at a church where the Doctor had to intervene that very day and the person abandoning her was a shadowy figure whose identity we're not clear on. Meanwhile we've had a female picking up the master tooth, and the "you've never seen a tardis before?" lady... there's a whole mystery box being set up around this Doctor and Millie, and my guess is it probably resolves in a way that sees her leave the doctor, or die, or regenerate or something. It'll be a shame if the media have spoiled that for us.
My more pressing concern is having May come around so I can see Jinkx Monsoon in action
My more pressing concern is having May come around so I can see Jinkx Monsoon in action
I hate clickbait article headlines. Makes it sound like Millie was fired and a new actress is playing her character. "Inside scoop on the 15th Doctor's 2nd companion" would be more accurate.
Exclusive Interview: Millie Gibson - Fabric Magazine
New Doctor Who companion Millie Gibson on audition nerves, New Year’s resolutions and making a house a home
fabricmagazine.co.uk
This article is paywalled, but here's a relevant snippet.
So yeah, this doesn't seem to have been a sudden thing.
It's a shame that news like this inevitably gets out so early because of how far ahead they are on filming. It makes Ruby feel a bit like old news before she's even really started.
I think that has more to do with being a kid-friendly ambassador for the show than anything re: work conditions.
In this sense I'm really surprised he was allowed to smoke outside in sight of press in costume, as well. But that only happened on one episode (the Beatles episode), and I wonder if as soon as those pictures got out a smoking ban was also laid down
To my knowledge you legally can't prevent a smoke break.
I think it's stupid that we have to disect Ncuti being a smoker and uses swear words.
Oh no, this queer black man smokes and says fuck, he is ruining Doctor Who!
It doesn't feel like some bad bias is at play here?
Obviously you can't legally prevent a smoke break, and nor should you, but you can say, "you absolutely must not smoke anywhere that's sufficiently open that you can get long-lensed in costume/character with a cig in your mouth". Like it doesn't become 'don't smoke', but it becomes 'if you want to smoke, we have an area where you can go do it where we know it's 100% secure from paps because there's screens up" or whatever.
So it's not just on Ncuti, it's on production to find a place for people to smoke. Like if you're out in public, you erect big screens that hide people from paps and public and just... people smoke behind those screens. Nobody (in their right mind, anyway) is suggesting the person playing the Doctor shouldn't be allowed to smoke, or swear, or shag, or drink. It's just about what they're pictured doing while they're actually dressed as the Doctor.
Also, look, I just think it's mega bad faith to suggest this stuff is anything to do with Ncuti being queer, or black, or anything else. I'm black, and I've seen a lot of racism and bad faith criticism levelled at Ncuti, but this ain't it. It's just to do with being the actor behind a really important children's telly character, when we don't want to ever encourage kids to light up. That's it. Matt Smith was disciplined for smoking in costume, told the story about being bollocked on a chat show (Craig Ferguson, I think) and despite the fact he continued to smoke (and still does) he was never pictured smoking in costume again for his remaining 3 years on the show. He obviously wasn't denied a smoke break (illegal), but they just made sure that there was sufficient process in place to ensure that, y'know, there aren't photos out there of "the doctor smoking".
Like, all I'm saying is - especially in light of the Smith story - I'm surprised that Ncuti got papped with a cig in his mouth in costume on location. I think that's more reflective of a production error (ie not having a private place for that to be happening) than any indictment on him. He's well within his rights to puff up a storm, and it's a stressful job.
I mean, christ alive, even Love Island has knocked the smoking on the head. The first few series everybody is smoking on that show 24/7, but they've completely banned it now because they felt it was a bad look as a show that targets younger people. But it's not like people are prevented - they just have a smoking area outside the villa and they have to be escorted out to it to leave, and can only go one at a time (to prevent conversations taking place there, because everything has to be on camera for the stupid reality format). I don't really think that's an infringement on their rights, just about protecting the TV show. That's obviously stuff that's going to air, but with the tabloid interest around Doctor Who, it's just about protecting what kids might see.
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If it is off set, who should care where he smokes?
I couldn't give two figs about Love Island, but that's an entirely different genre, it's a "reality" show. And having never seen it, yeah I feel that lambasting cast for smoke breaks and swearing would be too far.
Personally, that Ncuti has been seen with a cigarette and knowing he swears makes me adore him more. He's a human being.
My point was simply that it all feels like an unnecessary dissection of his behaviour, to a degree I don't think I have seen in an actor playing the Doctor before.
It's alread been pointed out that the "no swear words" rule is non existent bullshit, with the video of Tom Baker swearing at K-9!
New images and videos from filming at Series 15/Season 2:
It looks like the Doctor and the new companion in an episode in the past in the US.
View: https://twitter.com/set_dw/status/1749441276087357944
View: https://twitter.com/set_dw/status/1749065172264661215
View: https://twitter.com/set_dw/status/1749442419278467356
View: https://twitter.com/set_dw/status/1749441276087357944
View: https://twitter.com/set_dw/status/1749065172264661215
View: https://twitter.com/set_dw/status/1749442419278467356
Distant glimpse but loving the outfit. Loving, in general, the willingness to let the Doctor play with Style a bit more!
Here are the best images of their clothes:
And more:
www.walesonline.co.uk
And more:
Doctor Who films in Welsh seaside town as rumoured ‘new’ companion spotted
Millie Gibson, who plays current companion Ruby Sunday, has reportedly been dropped from the BBC science fiction series after just one season and is set to be replaced by Varada Sethu
www.walesonline.co.uk
I'm doing a rewatch and I can't wait to get to Matt smith since it's finally HD. I can't believe how horrible it looks in SD ha
Regardless of any other speculation, the framing people have been using to cover this news(and also back when it was more rumored/less confirmed) is really rubbing me the wrong way, there's a sense of glibness here even on Variety's word choice of "REPLACED". Kinda feels like Gibson is being thrown under the bus politely.
It's purely a personal thing, but really not vibing with the incredible amount of costume changes going on
Every episode in every scene, there seems to be entirely different wardrobes going on.
A costume is a character in itself and help cement iconic imagery. Bakers scarf and jacket. McCoys question mark jumper. Ecclestons leather jacket. Tennant's brown jacket. Smiths geography teacher look. Capaldi's dress shirts and velvet coat. Whittaker's coat and striped colour motif. Sure they vary it occasionally, but just turning up as they are helps give a sense of continuity.
What is Ncuti's 'default' going to be?
Every episode in every scene, there seems to be entirely different wardrobes going on.
A costume is a character in itself and help cement iconic imagery. Bakers scarf and jacket. McCoys question mark jumper. Ecclestons leather jacket. Tennant's brown jacket. Smiths geography teacher look. Capaldi's dress shirts and velvet coat. Whittaker's coat and striped colour motif. Sure they vary it occasionally, but just turning up as they are helps give a sense of continuity.
What is Ncuti's 'default' going to be?
In the video introducing the costume we has in at Christmas - the great big leather jacket, the vest underneath, the tri-color trainers, the blue trousers - he describes that as his "hero outfit" and basically says it's his main/default look. We also know from filming he's in that for like at least 50% of season 1, and is in it again for Christmas 2024. It seems he's generally changing for historicals (ie we have the 60s costume, the regency costume, and this - all period/location appropriate) but then we know there appear to be three more general costumes - the long leather, the long coat with the orange jumper underneath, and a short biker-ish leather - but the main one is definitely the one he showed up in at Christmas. In classic Who core costume style, that outfit has little subtle variations too, so he's been seen with the vests in a variety of colors. And in Tennant-ish fashion, we've seen shots and filming of him in this costume both with and without the overcoat. Anyway, that's the default. Like, you can bet now if it's in 2 years time or 5 years time or more, when Ncuti regenerates he will probably be in that.
I think it's alright for a Doctor to dress more - indeed maybe in many ways this becomes 15's thing - he's the one with the wardrobe. But you'll still inevitably have some elements, like the rings and a general love for blues and ruddy browns, that seem to carry across various costumes.
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Honestly I feel it would be a crime to cast a clothes horse like Ncuti and not have him in as many fits as they can get away with. He looks incredible in all the outfits we've seen.
And it feels entirely appropriate for historical episodes imo. One of the reasons I love 60s Who so much is that historicals were much more common, and they would often change up their looks for those. I remember there's a whole subplot in The Crusade with the Doctor stealing clothes from a merchant so they can blend in, which probably seems a bit quaint today.
And it feels entirely appropriate for historical episodes imo. One of the reasons I love 60s Who so much is that historicals were much more common, and they would often change up their looks for those. I remember there's a whole subplot in The Crusade with the Doctor stealing clothes from a merchant so they can blend in, which probably seems a bit quaint today.
I loved all seasons. Exept last ones. Where doctor is a woman. But not bc she is a woman - bc she is amazing actress and really holds the whole scenario on herdelf. But bc plot became boring.
I hope we see the end to the "3 seasons and they're gone" pattern for Doctors, especially since the seasons are only 8 episodes.
Agreed. If Ncuti's seasons are this tiny, at least give him a fourth run so he's not pushing "shortest mainline run as Doctor ever" next to Chris and Paul.
Well, I don't need or want him in the part for 10+ years - he's a young guy, he should be allowed to do other jobs before he's 45 - but I do want him to have enough time in the role to really get to run with it.
7 seasons would still be about ten years of his life, is the thing. It's a lot of filming time.
I've been wanting someone to tie Pertwee's five season run for a while. 3-and-out always feels too short.
Another glimpse of filming at Series 15/Season 2:
Featuring Gatwa and still-unannounced companion in action. They also claim Anita Dobson was filming, so Mrs Flood seems set to appear in Season 2.
www.mirror.co.uk
Dr Who's Ncuti Gatwa films with new co-star Varada Sethu after Millie Gibson axe
Actress Varada Sethu has been seen with her Doctor Who co-star Ncuti Gatwa filming new scenes after the Mirror revealed she had signed up to replace Millie Gibson
www.mirror.co.uk
New Guest Cast and Directors Announced:
- From DWM 601 :
Genesis Lynea and Giwon Morris
Amanda Brotchie Directing Block 3 and Makalia McPherson for a Block TBC
- From DWM 601 :
- Series 14:
Genesis Lynea and Giwon Morris
- Series 15:
Amanda Brotchie Directing Block 3 and Makalia McPherson for a Block TBC