Is New Doctor Who Companion Millie Gibson Qualified

2023 marks the 60th Anniversary of Doctor Who, and it is expected to be a big celebration for the popular British television series. Not only is fan favorite David Tennant returning to the franchise for a series of specials, but Ncuti Gatwa has been cast as the Fifteenth Doctor, the first black actor to play the iconic hero. While little is known about the new Doctor, the BBC did announce that Millie Gibson has been cast as Ruby Sunday, the Doctor’s new companion.

Much attention has been paid to Tennant’s return and Gatwa’s casting, but Gibson is an exciting choice for the franchise. The companion is just as important for Doctor Who as the Doctor himself, so the person cast in the role takes on a big responsibility. At just 18 years old, she will be the youngest person to be cast as a companion and was only a one-year-old when the series was revived in 2005. Is the young star ready for such a major role? Her casting might be the key to understanding the new direction for the series.

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Of Course She Is Qualified

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The Doctor’s companion is an important role in the series, but this is a performance on a television series. This is not the same as an actual medical doctor or a firefighter where one does expect years of training and a certain level of experience to be considered qualified. Nobody wants an inexperienced heart surgeon, but a young star on a television series won’t kill anyone.

While only 18, Gibson has a few credits to her name, so she is not going into the series with no training. She has performed on radio, in theater, and on television and was featured in over 215 episodes of the popular British soap opera Coronation Street, for which she won a Best Younger Performer Award in 2022 at the British Soap Opera Awards. She has already done so much hard work at such a young age and is certainly ready to jump into the role of the Doctor’s companion.

Her Casting Feels Like History Repeating Itself

Gibson’s casting on Doctor Who certainly does feel a bit familiar. She was cast by Russell T. Davies, the same man who relaunched Doctor Who back in 2005 after years of hiatus. Doctor Who has now been back on television for 18 years and has not only had a legion of fans grow up with the new series but also likely grow out of it. The franchise now has its own long-term continuity and baggage that the relaunch jettisoned years ago to attract new viewers. Doctor Who is not as new viewer friendly as it once was.

Davies now finds himself in a similar position that he was in when he first relaunched Doctor Who, needing to win back old fans while also making an entry point for new fans to come in. In 2005, he did so with a new Doctor and a companion played by Billie Piper, who at the time was mostly known as a British pop star.

Piper played Rose Tyler, and for the first year of Doctor Who it was Rose that was the central character, the audience POV that allowed the rules of the franchise to be laid out for new viewers. Rose became a fan favorite and is still regarded as one of the best companions in the series’ history. Davies might be going for a similar route with Gibson, casting a young everyday woman to act as the new audience surrogate character for this new era of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who Is Looking for a Younger Audience, and That’s Good

Celebrating its 60th anniversary, Doctor Who has had fans for decades. A common element among many fans is they discovered Doctor Who when they were kids. Doctor Who has been able to generate fans of any age and many discovered it in their adult lives, but one of the most passionate and loyal audiences for the series has been children and families. With colorful aliens, a person who travels time and space and meets historical figures in a police box equipped with magic paper and a sonic screwdriver, Doctor Who is the ultimate kids’ series.

Casting Gibson, and also Gatwa as the Doctor, shows that Russell T. Davies and the rest of the creative team are looking into making a Doctor Who series that will appeal to a younger audience. They want to tap into a demographic that may have been avoiding Doctor Who due to years of continuity or just the fact that they do not see themselves reflected. There is an entire generation now that was born after the revival and likely weren’t even alive when David Tennant played the Doctor last.

It is time for Doctor Who to stop chasing the old fans who may have left, and start trying to cultivate a new fanbase. The original fans will return if the stories are good, just like they did before. For Doctor Who to continue to survive, much like the title character it needs to reinvent itself, and casting Gibson as the companion is a step in the right direction.