https://deadline.com/2024/01/doctor-who-millie-gibson-dropped-varada-sethu-joins-1235799043/
This caught me by surprise. That was fast.
This caught me by surprise. That was fast.
Millie Out Already
- Thread starter bdub76
- Start date
Already discussing this in the other threads. But as we've been saying there, it's not really that surprising. Every season in RTD's first era had a cast change, season 2 had a new Doctor, seasons 3 and 4 each had a new companion. Not shocking at all to see RTD's taking the same approach this time around either.
The only difference is how far ahead they are in shooting, in order to ensure a series a year going forward.
What is bizarre is they've been shooting with Varada in full public view this afternoon and still not a word, even though there will be photos in the papers tomorrow. (And they're online already.)
As someone would say, "spoilers..." In the age of social media, it's extremely hard to keep things under wraps for awhile these days. For example, reports that Tennant would return as the 14th Doctor rather than the 10th broke came fairly quickly, so the only way to truly remain spoiler-free is to pretty much avoid any articles or discussions about a favorite tv show or movie...
The actor that plays the 9th Doctor has serious issues with RTD. So there is more here than meets the eye.
You’d think a companion would be around 2-3 seasons.
I find this all very strange.
Except for all the ones who weren't.
We'll get a new Doctor, another companion, a spin-off series, the return of Millie as companion, and the cancellation of the series before the new season airs.
And a visit to Disneyland.
Yep - it was Moff who started the "Thing That Wouldn't Leave" dynamic of the nuWho era companion(s), only partly taken up by Chibbers. RTD always had the "1 series and out, with occasional revisits" thing with companions that weren't Rose, and even there she only stayed in due to the Twu Wuv story and the need to have a companion deal with regeneration so the new audience got it as well.
Jack
Martha
Donna
Bill
Nardole
Dan
Ruby
People really got blindsided by the long tenures of the Ponds, Clara, and the absolute powerhouse of character development, Yasmin Khan. But like most of those companions listed above, I wouldn't be surprised if Ruby appears later on in Ncuti's run as a guest star.
Last edited:
She's definitely in at least one episode which was shot before Christmas.
Ruby is living on Earth and dating someone who works for UNIT. There are scenes with a group of Alien "Truthers" protesting outside UNIT HQ and also at Ruby's house.
Eccleston's issues with RTD have nothing to do with this situation at all.
With the exception of Rose, all of the companions in RTD's first era only did one season each. And Rose was with a different Doctor her two seasons.
You're the only one.
A Theory About Why Millie Gibson Left Doctor Who Has Been Revealed Following A Comment From Russell T. Davies | Cinemablend
That might reveal the goingson?
That might reveal the goingson?
If correct, I'm sure all of the people casting aspersions on her (not here, specifically, but everywhere) will line up to apologise.
If that's the case, then the character of Ruby was almost certainly always planned to be a principal character for a single season and a recurring character later.
As others have said, a one season companion isn't that unusual, even in the classic series you got that often (Dodo, Liz, Romana I) and I guess a character who has a fully formed arc for a single season but then pops back from time to time is preferable to someone like Yaz who stayed way longer than she should have and never really developed in any meaningful way. I mean, I loved Amy and Rory to bits (and always will) but even I have to admit that probably hung around a little bit too long.
That being said I hope RTD isn't planning a revolving door policy for companions and that Varada isn't just another one and done (but maybe I'll pop back) companion.
Does anyone know whether if Eccleston had stayed whether Billie would have also?
That being said I hope RTD isn't planning a revolving door policy for companions and that Varada isn't just another one and done (but maybe I'll pop back) companion.
Does anyone know whether if Eccleston had stayed whether Billie would have also?
There was an alternate ending for Parting of the Ways filmed that had no regeneration and set up a storyline for Rose in the second season. Basically the scene started the same way as in the episode with the Doctor blathering on about the planet Barcelona. Only, instead of regenerating, at the end, he'd take a look at the monitor on the console, which would be displaying a picture of Rose with text saying something like "Subject: Rose Tyler. Condition: Terminal." It's a point of contention these days as to whether this was actually meant to be an alternate ending to set up for Eccleston's potential second season, or if it was just planned to use in the press screenings of POTW in an effort to keep the regeneration secret until the episode actually aired.
It should be noted, in The Writer's Tale RTD says that having a cast change each season isn't something he had planned on doing, that's just how things ended up working out.
