Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis solid in Doctor Who

Doctor Who has cast Strictly Come Dancing winner Rose Ayling-Ellis in the forthcoming new series, which is set to air in 2025.

Ayling-Ellis, who won the BBC dancing competition as the show’s first ever deaf contestant in 2021, will join Ncuti Gatwa for his second season as the Time Lord.

Millie Gibson will also return as the Doctor’s companion Ruby Sunday, alongside newcomer Varada Sethu, who will join the series as another co-companion to the Doctor, named Belinda Chandra.

Ayling-Ellis previously portrayed Frankie Lewis in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 2020 to 2022 after starting her career in short film and on stage.

Since Strictly, she has completed a string of firsts, including becoming the first celebrity reader to perform a CBeebies bedtime story in sign language in May 2022.

She was also the first deaf person to host a live sports show, presenting the Paralympic Games in France for Channel 4 this summer.

“I loved Doctor Who when I was growing up,” gushed Ayling-Ellis as her casting was announced. “So, being cast in the show was a dream come true. My inner child is ecstatic with excitement!

“Working with Russell and filming alongside the talented cast and crew has been an incredible experience. Ncuti is a wonderful Doctor, and I can’t wait for audiences to see what we have created together.”

Showrunner Russell T Davies said of Ayling-Ellis’ casting: “We always want guest actors on Doctor Who to have fun, but Rose takes it to a whole new level.

“She storms in with an astonishing performance of terror, anger and bravery in one of the most frightening episodes we’ve ever made,” he said.

The long-running series, which began on the BBC in 1963, was rebooted back in 2005 by T Davies, who returned to write and executive produce the new 2024 season.

Gatwa’s first season of Doctor Who aired earlier this year, with the show being aired on both BBC and Disney+ for the first time.

Other cast members who we know will appear in the 2025 series include Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Bonnie Langford as Melanie Bush, Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne Bingham and Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood.

Gatwa previously confirmed he would be staying for at least two seasons of Doctor Who, telling The Rolling Stone: “[Theatre] kept me warm and it held me all night, even if I was broke. But I’m planning on getting back to it next year, after I finish season 2 of Doctor Who.”

However, when the 2024 series finale aired in June, it was subject to mixed reviews.

TV critic Ed Power said in The Independent’s review that the series ended with an “anticlimax” when the true identity of Ruby Sunday’s parents were revealed.

“Gatwa is a great Doctor out of the gate – and it is slightly beside the point that he’s been saddled with some ropy plots, exemplified nowhere better than in this finale,” wrote Power.

“After so much hope, hype, and hoopla, it’s all a bit of a letdown.