A Partnership On Real Equal Footing

Doctor Who stars Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu have explained how their new companion dynamic is different from those of past seasons. The story of Doctor Who season 15 will focus on Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor meeting Sethu’s Belinda Chandra, who becomes his new companion, the duo traveling across time and space as he attempts to get her back to her own time period on Earth. This leads to a variety of adventures between the pair, which will see their shared story unfold across the eight-episode season.

Speaking with ScreenRant, Gatwa and Sethu revealed the different dynamic the Fifteenth Doctor and Belinda have in Doctor Who season 15, contrasting it with other doctor-companion relationships. Both actors explain their characters have a “partnership” with each other, including one where the Doctor doesn’t have answers and ends up needing Belinda’s help. Because of “their strengths and weaknesses,” both characters work together well, complimenting one another because of their different skill sets. Check out what Gatwa and Sethu had to say below:

Ncuti Gatwa: It feels this season a lot more like a partnership on real equal footing, which I think is very enriching to the dynamic that we normally see. They’ve got a mission where the Doctor, who normally knows what’s going on and has all the answers, has none at all.

Varada Sethu: They form a team, and I think that they both pull their weight. They both have their strengths and weaknesses, and I think that what’s really special about them is that they fill in the gaps for each other, and they hold each other accountable. Yeah, they make a great team.

Ncuti Gatwa: A partnership!

What The Doctor & Belinda’s Relationship Means For Season 15

His New Companion Will Have More Agency Than Others

Doctor Who‘s companions have often ranged from memorable sidekicks to characters with larger story arcs across the series. The latest example of this was Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), who played an active role in the Doctor’s adventures across season 14. In addition, she had her own story arc that ended in Doctor Who season 14, discovering the true identity of her birth mother, who she learned gave birth to her at 15 years old. While she left the TARDIS to learn more about her biological parents, she is going to return in the upcoming episodes.

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However, her dynamic with the Doctor is clearly going to be different from the one Belinda has, with Gatwa and Sethu’s comments confirming equal footing for both characters. While the titular protagonist is trying to get her back home, she still has plenty of agency herself, which will likely be reflected in the way their shared adventures transpire. This also indicates that, out of every character in Doctor Who the Fifteenth Doctor has interacted with, she may become his closest confidant, broadening their doctor-companion relationship with each other.

It Hypes Up Her Role In Season 15

Gatwa and Sethu illustrate the important relationship the Doctor and Belinda are going to have, the pair working as a team more readily than seemingly any pairing before them. This could mean a broader focus on his new companion in ways that illustrate her as independent, even while the duo are working in tandem. Doing so can make Doctor Who season 15’s new character all the more memorable, bolstered by a strong will that stands apart from the protagonist, while also complimenting his own confident personality.

Doctor Who season 15 begins Saturday, April 12 on BBC One and Disney+.

Doctor Who

5/10

Release Date

December 25, 2023

Directors

Douglas Camfield, David Maloney, Christopher Barry, Michael E. Briant, Barry Letts, Michael Ferguson, Richard Martin, Peter Moffatt, Pennant Roberts, Lennie Mayne, Chris Clough, Ron Jones, Paddy Russell, Paul Bernard, Michael Hayes, Timothy Combe, Morris Barry, Gerald Blake, Graeme Harper, Waris Hussein, Rodney Bennett, Mervyn Pinfield, Hugh David, John Gorrie

Writers

Russell T. Davies, Dave Gibbons, Kate Herron, Steven Moffat

Franchise(s)

Doctor Who