‘Doctor Who:’ How Varada Sethu Became an Unlikely New Companion

“Doctor Who” has returned.

The legendary British sci-fi series, which first debuted back in 1963 and ran until 1989 before being resurrected, in earnest, in 2005, has just started a new season on Disney+ and the BBC. It is the second season of the newly co-produced series, with the effervescent Ncuti Gatwa returning as the titular Doctor, alongside executive producer and head writer Russell T. Davies. Millie Gibson also returns as Ruby Sunday, the previous season’s companion. But this year she is joined by Varada Sethu as companion Belinda Chandra.

But wait. Didn’t Sethu already appear in the series? In last season’s Steven Moffat-penned “Boom?”

Well, yes.

“One day, we started looking for Belinda. And we did audition a lot of people. We must have had about 30 different auditions, and in the middle of that process, I was mid-edit on ‘Boom,’ and all of a sudden I went, Well, there’s the best actor in the world staring us in the face,” Davies said. “Who says we can’t use her again?”

Davies points to a precedent on “Doctor Who” – Catherine Tate was first introduced in a one-off episode of the series (“Doomsday”) before being brought back as the same character, now the Doctor’s companion. (Davies calls her “one of the most successful companions there has ever been.”) “It just felt very natural,” Davies said. Not that he could “decide these things myself,” he had to check with the team from BBC and Disney, with everyone enthusiastically signing onto the idea of Sethu playing the new companion. “It was a really lovely moment of everyone saying, ‘That’s a great performance. We should hang onto her,’” Davies said.

Of course, then Davies had to come up with a science fiction-y explanation that would link the character from “Boom” to Belinda. “It’s the world I live in,” Davies said. “I get up Monday morning, and I think, Right, let me think of something timey-wimey now and then I do and it’s a joy. I know how good she is.” Davies pointed to the second episode of the season, when Sethu gets to slip into some 1950s attire. “She looks absolutely stunning, but the way she looks is irrelevant, because it’s all about the performance. But my god, she is the triple threat,” Davies said.

Sethu said she couldn’t believe the news, especially because it was not exactly clear when they called her.

“The call was not as clear and concise as you’ve got the role. It was very shrouded in mystery. My agent called, and this was in October during the strikes and I thought I was probably never going to work again, it was really bleak,” Sethu said. Her agent said that Davies might be around next week and was wondering if she could come in to “possibly, maybe think about talking about being the companion.” Her response? “I’ve already been in it. I think they know I’ve been in it, right?”

Sethu’s agent said that yes, they knew, and that Davies was prepared to “write a bit of Russell magic.” “I went in and I just thought it was still maybe a conversation and audition, something that required me to pitch why I’d be a good fit,” Sethu said. Instead, she went in and Davies gave her the rundown of the plot for the whole season. She remembers thinking, This is top-secret information that he’s blowing on our first meeting. At the end of the meeting, Davies just said, “Yeah, darling it’s yours if you want it. I can’t say it but I’m going to say it – it’s yours.” Sethu said yes immediately.

“It was a huge shock. I just felt completely electrified in that moment and so excited to come back,” Sethu said. “I’m not just saying this but I felt really at home when I did ‘Boom.’ It made sense to me. It’s like, Oh yeah, of course. This is going to work. And it did.”

Gatwa was caught off-guard too.

“I didn’t expect it at all, but I can see what they were thinking, because the chemistry was so great in ‘Boom’ and we all got on so well. I feel like it was just a really great chemistry on screen as well. And so when the news came to me, I was like, That makes such great sense. It was really exciting,” Gatwa said.

Part of what made the casting so exciting, according to Gatwa, is the kind of character Belinda is – a different sort of companion. “We’ve not had this challenge for the Doctor before. We’ve not had a companion that challenges a doctor in this way and is on a really equal footing with them and drives their own narrative and also just doesn’t want to be the companion,” Gatwa said. Belinda represents “a very interesting plot point,” according to Gatwa. “How will this develop?” he teased.

What makes Sethu’s appearance on “Doctor Who” even more exciting is that the actress is also appearing on another little sci-fi series on Disney+ at the same time – the highly anticipated second season of the live-action “Star Wars” series “Andor.” Her character, essential rebel warrior Cinta Kaz, has a particularly strong arc this season.

Sethu said that the difference between the fandom (and her interactions with the fandom) is different because she was a “Star Wars” fan before signing onto “Andor,” whereas the “Doctor Who” die-hards are somewhat new to her. “What I love most about the Whovians is I’m learning so much every single time and to see the lore and experience the universe through new eyes,” Sethu said. They are both equally intense – and lovely – but she is “loving my experience with the Whovians because it’s also new to me.” She said that David Tennant was “her doctor growing up,” but the show was not something she obsessively watched. Now, though, “I’ve got a great view from where I’m at to explore the ‘Doctor Who’ world.”

Gatwa had a similar experience. He said, “Prepping for this role, I really just fell in love with the show and how much escapism it provides people. I loved that. And I was like, Oh my god, this is a nice family to join. It feels like a nice family to be a part of.”

And now that family has one more member.

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