Former Corrie star Millie Gibson has been dropped from Dr Who and, The Daily Mirror reports, will be replaced by Varada Seethu in a decision made by Manchester-based showrunner Russell T Davies last year after the shooting Gibson’s first run.
The swift exit comes after she made her on-screen debut in the festive instalment just last month as the Dr’s new assistant Ruby Sunday. The actress will reportedly not return in this year’s Christmas special, making only limited appearances in 2025’s run. The episodes she has already filmed for the show’s 2024 run will air from May.
Incoming assistant, Indian-born Seethu, who grew up in Newcastle with her twin sister and doctor parents, has previously played DS Mishal Ali in the BBC’s 2017 apocalyptic drama Hard Sun.
Gibson and new Dr, Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa, proved popular on their festive screen debut, with 7.3million viewers watching in the first week of release, making it one of the BBC’s biggest hits of the year.
According to The Mirror’s sources, however, Seethu is already filming scenes at the show’s Cardiff studio while “Millie Gibson has all but left now and there’s a brand new companion, which is really exciting. Russell is keeping things moving and isn’t letting the grass grow, that’s for sure.”
