Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies reassures fans that this season's "standalone" Ruby Sunday episode does feature "lots" of the Doctor unlike '73 Yards', as star Ncuti Gatwa calls it his favorite

Doctor Who
(Image credit: BBC)

Doctor Who season 2 is just around the corner now, bringing with it a new set of adventures through time and space as Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor returns.

Just like with every season, audiences can expect wild variety with the episodes, with everything from stories being set 500,000 years into the future to one revolving around the Interstellar Song Contest, the show's take on Eurovision.

Everyone will naturally have their favorite from the new season, so GamesRadar+ decided to ask the cast for their choices – without spoilers of course.

For star Varada Sethu, who makes her debut as new companion Belinda (although you may remember her for playing a different character in last season's episode 'Boom'), it is an easy choice, as she reveals: "I love episode 2 that is set in 1950s Miami. It's a cartoon character that is the bad guy! It was such an interesting, fun experience getting animated ourselves, shooting that scene. They shot us acting out very cartoonish gestures then animated that, which was so much fun. And I love my 1950s yellow dress!"

As glimpsed at in one of the show's trailers, the second episode, titled 'Lux', sees The Doctor and Belinda become animated as they face off against cartoon villain Mr Ring-a-Ding, voiced by Alan Cumming, who was recently announced to be returning as X-Men member Nightcrawler in upcoming Marvel movie Avengers: Doomsday.

Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor in Doctor Who season 2

(Image credit: BBC)

Sethu's co-star Gatwa though has a different pick, choosing episode 4 which is officially titled 'Lucky Day'. As the actor explains, he loves that this episode takes a departure from the rest of the season to focus on Ruby Sunday, Millie Gibson's former companion who returns after leaving the TARDIS during last season's finale Empire of Death.

Gatwa reveals: "The episode follows Ruby Sunday and I love that. It's so separate from everything that's happening with us, so it felt like a little standalone film."

Now, this answer may have some fans raising an eyebrow given that last season there were two episodes which barely featured the Doctor – something known as 'Doctor-lite'. One of those was '73 Yards' which solely focused on Ruby as she spends a lifetime with the Doctor banished from existence.

And so, could 'Lucky Day' be another Doctor-lite episode just like '73 Yards'? According to showrunner Russell T Davies, you can still expect plenty of Gatwa's Doctor in that episode, reassuring fans.

He tells GamesRadar+: "We get to find out what happened to Ruby Sunday who was left at home. That adventure brings us back to Earth just to follow her life. And don't worry, there's lots of the Doctor in that episode, it's a very clever piece of storytelling. There's a little glimpse of a Doctor and Ruby story we have never seen before and there were ways and means of making him appear within the story as a living force kind of thing."


The new season of Doctor Who arrives on April 12 via Disney Plus internationally and BBC iPlayer in the UK. For more that should be on your watch list, check out our guide to the new TV shows to look out for.

Emily Murray
Entertainment Editor

As Entertainment Editor at GamesRadar, I oversee all the online content for Total Film and SFX magazine. Previously I've worked for the BBC, Zavvi, UNILAD, Yahoo, Digital Spy and more.

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