Doctor Who has officially confirmed Varada Sethu as Ncuti Gatwa’s new companion for his second instalment as the Time Lord. 

In first look photos for series 15, the actress and the lead actor, both 31, smiled alongside Millie Gibson, 19, who currently stars as Ruby Sunday.

It was previously reported Varada would be replacing Millie as Ncuti’s companion, although details about her character are still under wraps.

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies told BBC: ‘Right now in the studio, shooting for 2025, we’ve got Ncuti, Millie and Varada fighting side by side – we need all three, because the stakes are higher than ever!’

Millie starred as the 15th Doctor’s companion Ruby and was first seen on screen for the 2023 Christmas special returning for an eight episode run in May.

However, it has then been suggested Millie’s character Ruby will be replaced by Varada for Ncuti’s second series.

It has been claimed that the former Coronation Street actress will be finishing up on the show in the coming weeks to ‘tie up loose ends’ and will not appear in the 2024 Christmas special.

Varda started filming at the show’s Cardiff studios in January where she was seen on set with Ncuti.

On the set, Penarth Pier was transported back to the 1950s with American cars, including a 1954 Cadillac sat outside the Palazzo theatre.

She is best known for playing DS Mishal Ali in the BBC apocalyptic TV series Hard Sun, but that was far from her first role.

The actress made her debut in a short film named Impressions in 2010 before starring in 2011’s Sket.

She had a small role in Doctor’s in 2015 as PC Kylie Green and featured in two episodes of Doctor Foster.

In 2016 Varda starred in the film lm adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.