- Doctor Who season 2’s primary dynamic will differ wildly from last season’s partnership
- The Doctor’s friendship with new companion Bel won’t be the same as the one he enjoyed with Ruby
- Ncuti Gatwa and Verada Sethu has explained why things won’t always be rosy between their characters
Doctor Who‘s primary cast have revealed how the titular character’s latest companion Bel differs from her predecessor Ruby Sunday.
Speaking to TechRadar, Ncuti Gatwa and Verada Sethu, who play The Doctor and Bel, explained that the pair’s dynamic gets off to something of a fraught start in the Disney+ show’s second season.
Compared to the immediately harmonious relationship that Gatwa’s 15th Doctor enjoyed with Ruby – who will return in some capacity this season – it’s a frosty start to what’ll be a spicy, marriage of convenience-style friendship.
Indeed, while the duo learn to become a “really strong team” as the series’ latest installment progresses, Bel’s deep-rooted self of sense also means the titular Time Lord will have his hands full with her in Doctor Who season 2. You know, when he’s not dealing with all manner of planetary and wider universal threats.
“Bel has such a strong sense of self and her own values,” Sethu told me. “I love that she already owns herself and has so much going on in her own life that she feels responsible for. As a nurse, she’s a caring, selfless person, so she wants to go back to being the person she was before she meets The Doctor. She’s got no interest in floating around space and time with this guy!”
“[In the 2023 Christmas special], Ruby didn’t think twice about jumping onto the goblin ship ladder,” Gatwa interjected. “She very willingly wanted to go on this adventure and be part of The Doctor’s world.
“Bel was plucked out of her own world and placed into his, so there’s no interest on her part to follow in Ruby’s footsteps,” he continued. “So, what has to form is a real partnership built on an inherent equality and maturity between The Doctor and Bel. She understands the weight of responsibility, loss, and the hardships of life in general. But, by the end of this season’s first episode, she’s also well aware that The Doctor is a very dangerous man.”
She holds him accountable for a lot of things
Varada Sethu, Doctor Who actor
“She holds him accountable for a lot of things,” Sethu added. “He’s not surrounded by yes people like he might have been before. Now, he’s traveling with someone who’ll say ‘no, that is absolutely not okay’.
“But, they’re able to grow together because they’re able to fill in the gaps where the other falls short. They become a really strong team that has a great sense of trust and platonic love, which develops throughout the season.”
Want to know what I thought of episode 1 of one of the best Disney+ shows’ second season? My review of Doctor Who‘s season 2 premiere will tell you more. Be sure to check back with me later this week for more from my exclusive chat with Gatwa and Sethu, too.
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