Doctor Who has revealed former Coronation Street star Millie Gibson will be Ncuti Gatwa's companion.
The actress, who played Kelly Neelan on the ITV soap before quitting this year, appeared out of the TARDIS live on Children in Need tonight (November 18), where she revealed she'll be playing a character named Ruby Sunday.
Ncuti and Millie will both make their Doctor Who debuts in late 2023, when the Sex Education star officially takes over as the Fifteenth Doctor.
Secret auditions went down in September, with surely hundreds of candidates pledging their talent, but it was Millie who ultimately won over Russell T Davies and his team.
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"Whilst still being in total disbelief, I am beyond honoured to be cast as the Doctor’s companion," Millie said. "It is a gift of a role, and a dream come true, and I will do everything to try and fill the boots the fellow companions have travelled in before me.
"And what better way to do that than being by the fabulous Ncuti Gatwa's side – I just can’t wait to get started."
"Millie just is the companion," Ncuti added of his new co-star. "She is full of talent, strength, she has a cheeky sparkle in her eye and is sharp as a razor.
"From the moment she walked into the room she captured all of our attention with her effervescence and then solidified that attention with the sheer torque of her talent.
"This adventure is going to be so wild and so fun, I cannot WAIT to sail the universe with Millie!"
Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies added: "It's the great honour of my job to find the next generation of talent, and Millie shines like a star already. She's brilliant, dynamic, clever and a wonderful actor.
"As a Coronation Street fan, I've seen Millie survive chases, guns and sieges, but that’s nothing compared to what lies ahead for Ruby Sunday."
However, before Ncuti assumes the role of the Time Lord, Catherine Tate will return as Donna Noble across three Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials in November 2023 alongside David Tennant's Doctor.
Tennant recently explained how their reunion materialised through those Doctor Who: Lockdown! watch-alongs.
"That's where this all started. At a certain time and day everyone would press play on a certain episode and some of the people who had been involved in those episodes were tweeting along," he said.
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"Me and Catherine would text, 'Wouldn't it be fun to do it again?' And Russell would say, 'We could do a one-off, maybe they'd let us'."
The Inside Man star further recalled: "Suddenly Russell let us know that he was taking over the show again and he would be back fully in charge, and would we come and play a little bit for him?
"I don't know if we gave him the idea to take Doctor Who back but certainly we thought if he's doing it, we can't let these young people have all the fun."
To donate to Children in Need, visit www.bbc.co.uk/pudsey.
Doctor Who returns in 2023 on BBC One in the UK and Disney+ elsewhere. Meanwhile, in the US, the show airs on BBC America, with series 1-12 available on HBO Max. Classic Doctor Who streams on BritBox in the UK.
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