We just got our first bit of news since San Diego Comic Con about Doctor Who’s sophomore season on Disney+. It was announced by Deadline tonight that Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) has been cast in Season 2 of Doctor Who. According to Deadline, Panjabi will be playing a villain in Season Two, opposite Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor, Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday, and Verada Sethu’s Belinda Chandra.
We learned earlier this year that Season 2 of Doctor Who wrapped filming while Season 1 was still premiering on Disney+ and BBC. Showrunner Russell T. Davies posted on Instagram confirming the news from a wrap party. Deadline says details about Panjabi’s character remain under wraps and that both the BBC and Disney+ declined to comment. We do know that the second season, returning sometime in 2025, will see the return of the Fifteenth Doctor (Gatwa), Ruby Sunday (Gibson), as well as the illusive and mysterious neighbor Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson).
What’s Going On With the Whoniverse on Disney+?
Doctor Who’s migration to Disney+ for the softly revamped longrunning science fiction series began with three specials. The specials were in honor of the show’s 60th Anniversary after first gracing British television screens back in 1963. The final of the specials, “The Giggle”, saw the first appearance of Gatwa’s Doctor after David Tennant’s Fourteenth bi-regenerated when he was fatally shot by The Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris).
Gatwa would get his first full episode as The Doctor in the 2023 Christmas Special “The Church on Ruby Road.” The special also gave us an introduction to Ruby Sunday, who would be The Doctor’s sole companion for Season 1. The move to Disney+ also came with a change of showrunner. Russell T. Davies returned as showrunner after Chris Chibnall left at the end of Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as the 13th Doctor. Davies previously ran the show when it first rebooted in 2005 and left as showrunner when Steven Moffat took over beginning in Season 5.
Season 1 of Doctor Who on Disney+ led The Doctor and Ruby to one long-arching mystery: her parentage. After being abandoned at a church as an infant, Ruby longs to find out about her biological parents. As it would turn out, the desire to find out the mystery was so strong, basically fed power to Sutekh, a villain from Classic Who. With the mystery solved and Ruby reuniting with her family, that leaves the Doctor traveling alone (something his wife has repeatedly told him not to do) and that will lead him to Joy.
The 2024 Christmas Special “Joy to the World” is written by Steven Moffat and will feature Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan as Joy. That next hit of Who will hopefully tide fans over until more details about Archie Panjabi’s role and Season 2 as a whole come about.
You can watch Season 1 of Doctor Who now on Disney+ in the U.S. and on BBC iPlayer elsewhere.