According to Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies, the confirmed companion for the next season, Varada Sethu, didn’t even have to audition for her role in the show. The plan was never for Sethu to star in the sci-fi series, but her guest appearance in Season 14, Episode 3, “Boom” as Mundy Flynn seriously impressed the executive producer. In the new episode of SFX Magazine, as cited on Games Radar, Davies mentioned how Sethu’s talents were simply too irresistible to pass up on, and, given the show’s history of re-casting guest stars, nothing was holding them back. Davies said:
“It’s one of those very simple situations, like with Freema [Agyeman, who appeared in ‘Army of Ghosts’ before being cast as companion Martha Jones]: when you cast a great actor, you need a new companion. I was watching, like, the fifteenth edit of ‘Boom’, loving her,” Davies continues. “Every time I watch her, I think, ‘God, she’s brilliant’, I literally think she’s brilliant. I used to watch her thinking, ‘God, what a shame we can’t work with her again.’ I was thinking, ‘Should we go back to the 51st century, could we meet her again?’ and then I suddenly went, ‘Oh, let’s just cast her again. We’ve done that before. Lovely.'”
‘Doctor Who’ Has a History of Re-Casting It’s Most Famous Faces
Given Doctor Who’s over 60-year run on British television (minus its hiatus throughout the 90s and early 00s), it is very likely that certain faces will crop up more than once. However, for one of the show’s best-loved names to have previously already appeared can come as a surprise to viewers, proving that the fate of Sethu is nothing new. In recent memory, three of the show’s most iconic performances were scouted during previous appearances, named Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones, and Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor.
Before making her full debut as a companion, Gillan would appear in a face paint-covered role in the Season 4 episode, “The Fires of Pompeii.” In only a small role with limited involvement, Gillan clearly impressed, with her eventual time in the TARDIS going down as one of the show’s best companion journeys. “The Fires of Pompeii” would prove an immensely fruitful episode with regard to casting, given that eventual Twelfth Doctor Capaldi also guest starred. Unlike Gillan, Capaldi was a pivotal side character during the episode, with his involvement so memorable that the show had no choice but to address it during his tenure as the titular Time Lord. Finally, Agyeman would appear in a very small role during the opening scenes of the Season 2 finale, “Army of Ghosts”. The most surprising thing about this appearance is that she would become the companion just three episodes later, making it even more noticeable to viewers.
Actress Varada Sethu didn’t even have to audition for her upcoming role as a companion in next year’s season. You can catch up with the most recent season of Doctor Who right now on Disney+.