Over the weekend, shock news broke that new Doctor Who companion Millie Gibson – who is set to step into the Tardis this May as Ruby Sunday opposite Ncuti Gatwa – is to leave the show after one series.
Though Gibson will star in series 14, a report from the Mirror revealed that showrunner Russell T Davies made the decision to change companions after filming finished on the season last year. The Evening Standard has contacted the BBC for comment.
In the upcoming series 15, it's rumoured that she’ll only be appearing in three out of eight episodes (one of which will be wrapping up her story) and will be replaced. By whom? Speculation points towards British actor Varada Sethu.
But who is Sethu? Here’s all we know about the Doctor’s (potential) newest companion.
Born in India, raised in Newcastle
Sethu was born in 1992 in Kerala, India. Her parents are both doctors, and she has a twin sister called Abhaya. When she was young, her family moved to the North-East, and she grew up in Benton, near Newcastle upon Tyne.
As a teenager, Sethu was interested in acting: she was a member of the National Youth Theatre and won the 2010 Miss Newcastle competition in her final year of sixth form. She’s also a longtime practitioner of Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam, forms of Indian traditional dance.
Despite her theatre background, she studied veterinary medicine at Bristol University, later switching to physiology, before going onto study at the Identity School of Acting in London.
She’s appeared in Doctor Foster and Annika
Sethu’s onscreen career started slowly. She made an appearance in the 2010 short film Impressions as Samena, and then appeared in Malayam-language film English: An Autumn in London in 2012.
“I really enjoyed it,” she told The Hindu about the experience. “I didn’t struggle as my character was born and brought up in the UK and did not have any lines in Malayalam. I can’t really read Malayalam. But it was great to be working in a set where everyone spoke my language and had great Indian food. It felt like a family.”
After that, she appeared as Peaseblossom in a 2016 film adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and also featured in Now You See Me 2, opposite Michael Caine and Daniel Radcliffe – as well as the blockbuster Jurassic World: Dominion. More recently, she starred as Aisha in two episodes of the Suranne Jones thriller Doctor Foster, and as DS Harper Weston in the 2022 BBC show Annika.
Though she’s currently working in the UK, Sethu has also expressed an interest in returning to Malayam-language parts, “if it’s a good role and script. I think that would be my condition.
“But I can’t straddle both worlds, and right now I know the career that I want to build is in the British and American market. It is impossible to do a film elsewhere without taking time away from this.”
But her big break was in Andor
In 2022, Sethu played rebel Cinta Kaz in Disney+ series Andor: her character is one of the people who helps execute the rebel heist on the planet of Aldhani, opposite Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor.
“She was written as someone who doesn’t speak a lot, but when she does, she holds a presence,” Sethu said of her character. “I think Vel (Faye Marsay) was described in the script as someone who is physically powerful and commanding, and Cinta is the one who looks meek, and may not be capable of violence. So it’s a shock when people see her in action.”
She also spoke about her character’s romantic relationship with Marsay’s Vel. “I loved that it’s not made a big deal of. It’s just like something that exists, and other team members just accept them,” she said.
“I expected there to be loads of people picking up on it, and there really wasn’t. That’s actually even more beautiful because, ideally, it shouldn’t be a big deal at all.”
Now she's been tipped for Doctor Who
Not much has been revealed about Sethu’s character, beyond the fact that she’s rumoured to be the Doctor’s newest companion (and will appear opposite Ncuti Gatwa). However, a BBC source told The Mirror that “Varada is a real gem, Russell was just blown away by her talent. The cast and crew have really warmed to her and he’s sure the fans will too.”
