The wait is over for Doctor Who fans, who will be able to fill the Time Lord-shaped hole in their lives this weekend.
Doctor Who’s second season drops on Saturday (April 12) and it has just been announced Graham Norton will be making a guest appearance.
And showrunner Russell T Davies has confirmed “it's not just a cameo”.
• Read more: Who is Varada Sethu, the Andor star set to be the new Doctor Who companion?
He shared: “There’s no song contest without the great man himself, and it was an honour to welcome Graham Norton to our studios in Cardiff," he shared.
“And it’s not just a cameo, he has a whole plot twist all to himself! This is the wildest episode of all, and we’re lucky to have Graham adding to the mayhem.”
Details of the upcoming plot have been kept predictably under wraps, but who could we be seeing in the new series?
Following Ruby Sunday’s (Millie Gibson) departure at the end of season one and an adventure with Joy (Nicola Coughlan) over Christmas 2024, the Doctor will find new travelling buddies. Here is everything we know about the highly anticipated show.
Ncuti Gatwa plays the Doctor
Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa, 32, is back for 2025 as the Time Lord.
Previously best known for playing Eric Effiong on the high school Netflix hit Sex Education, he has also had roles in the HBO miniseries Masters of the Air and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
His Doctor has already been delighting fans: “Gatwa’s take on the character is brimming with joy,” said the Standard. “Gatwa and Gibson are both live wires, with charisma to burn; a welcome jolt of energy for a show that’s 60 years young.”
Gatwa’s doctor wears a tank top and a kilt to a club night, and seems more gender-fluid than any previous iteration of the character: “That’s what the show does,” said Gatwa, who is queer, to Rolling Stone. “It evolves and it regenerates. I feel like it’s about time, and I am here.”
Speaking to The Guardian he added: “Doctor Who has such a huge connection to LGBT people... We choose our families. And the Doctor is a lonely wanderer, looking for their next adventure … I know many a gay man I could describe that way.”
Varada Sethu plays Belinda Chandra
Varada Sethu is a familiar face to Doctor Who fans and last appeared as Mundy Flynn in Season 1’s Boom.
She has been confirmed as a companion to the Time Lord, but whether she joins in as a double act or a trio - alongside Ruby Sunday - remains to be seen.
In the clips we have seen, Belinda doesn’t seem to have chosen to take a trip in the TARDIS - asking the Doctor to “get me home”. And, as is often the case, the Doctor doesn’t appear to be in control, telling her that it may be “the long way round”.
And that seems to be the case with Belinda spotted in the trailer visiting numerous worlds.
Anita Dobson plays Mrs Flood
Another EastEnders legend, Dobson, now 75, starred as Angie Watts in the soap in the Eighties, before going on to feature in British series such as The Bill, Casualty, Holby City, Casualty, and Call the Midwife. She’s had a stellar career on stage, starring in everything from Pygmalion (1980) at the Salisbury Playhouse to Madame Morrible in Wicked (2016-2017) and has been married to Queen’s Brian May since 2000.
And in the new series, she is back again. This timem it appears she has ditched the snowy outfit for a pair of opera glasses and appears in a group of people going about her business.
We last saw her warning the audience that the Doctor’s story ends “in absolute terror”, so she could have a bigger part to play this time around.
Graham Norton plays guest
Graham Norton is set to feature as a guest in the sixth episode of the upcoming season, which is set to air on Saturday, May 17.
The episode, called The Interstellar Song Contest, will follow the Doctor and Belinda as they travel to the 803rd Interstellar Song Contest – where planets from across the universe compete for the top prize.
Rylan Clark plays himself
This Morning presenter Rylan Clark will be playing the host of The Interstellar Song Contest.
His appearance was announced in March and, at the time, he told his followers on Instagram: “So I have been keeping that secret for a year. I am so excited. I am a massive, massive Whovian. I love Doctor Who. I've loved it for years. And when I got that call I was so overwhelmed and, I'm not gonna lie, I did have a little tear. Maybe a few more tears. It was the best experience of my life.”
Freddie Fox plays a villain
Freddie Fox will be playing a fearsome villain from another planet in an upcoming episode.
He is well-known for his TV work, including The Gentlemen, The Crown, The Great, Slow Horses, and, most recently, as Ser Gwayne Hightower in House of the Dragon.
In 2015, Fox appeared as Freddie Baxter in Russell T Davies’ Channel 4 dramas Cucumber and Banana.
Fox also played Tristan Tzara in the revival of Travesties at the Apollo Theatre, which he earned a Laurence Oliver nomination for.
Kadiff Kirwan
Chewing Gum and Slow Horses star Kadiff Kirwan is another new face on the hit series. He is said to be a guest on the The Interstellar Song Contest episode.
He told the BBC: “I feel elated to be joining the rich legacy of actors who have guest-starred in Doctor Who.
“Russell T Davies and Juno Dawson have truly outdone themselves with this episode in what I can only describe as an intergalactic gargantuan extravaganza. It’s packed with gravity-defying mastery beyond imagination, and being a part of it is an absolute dream. Strap in, Whovians, this one is gonna rock your world!”
You may have also seen Kirwan on Black Mirror, Fleabag, I May Destroy You and This Is Going to Hurt.
Charlie Condou
Charlie Condou is no stranger to the Doctor Who world, having voiced characters in multiple Doctor Who Big Finish audio dramas. This time, Condou will come face to face with Gatwa’s Doctor in an exciting new escapade.
Condou has starred in multiple prominent dramas, including Holby City, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, Unforgotten, Midsomer Murders, and Coronation Street.
Condou is confirmed to be a guest on the The Interstellar Song Contest episode.
Miriam-Teak Lee
Miriam-Teak Lee is known for her role as Juliet Capulet in & Juliet, for which she won a 2020 Laurence Olivier Award.
She made her West End debut in 2017 in the original London production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre.
She will feature as a guest on The Interstellar Song Contest episode.
When will the show air?
Season two of Doctor Who launches on April 12 in the UK on BBC iPlayer at 8am and on BBC One at 6.50pm, and on Disney+ outside the UK.
