Doctor Who reveals new guest stars and character details
We finally learn some more about Sharon D Clarke’s mysterious non-companion, as well as some other familiar faces joining Jodie Whittaker in her adventures
The list of guest stars for Jodie Whittaker’s first series of Doctor Who has been a tightly kept secret for months, with only the odd name – including Alan Cumming and comedian Lee Mack – leaking out accidentally during the series’ production.
But now, with the new episodes close to airing, the BBC has finally revealed a few of the actors joining Whittaker and her Tardis team for her adventures, with series showrunner Chris Chibnall introducing them to the Whoniverse via an exclusive series 11 preview in this week’s Radio Times.
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“One of the great joys of Doctor Who is that there’s a new set of characters every episode – meaning we get to work with new, amazing guest stars every week,” Chibnall writes in the new issue, available from Tuesday 18th September.
“In the first two episodes alone you’ll see Sharon D Clarke, Shaun Dooley, Art Malik and Susan Lynch. And we’ve got lots more names to reveal across the series.”
For those not familiar, Art Malik is probably best known for his breakout role in 1980s series The Jewel in the Crown, and has more recently appeared in Sherlock, Indian Summers, The Woman in White and the remake of Upstairs Downstairs.
Northern Irish actor Lynch, meanwhile, is currently on screens in the BBC’s Killing Eve, recently played the mother of a murderer in Happy Valley, had a role in Ready Player One and has landed other significant parts in Save Me, From Hell, Monroe and Bodies.
Also among these names, fans will be quick to note a couple of actors already confirmed to be part of the series, including Misfits’ Shaun Dooley (who appeared in the series 11 trailer) and actor/singer Sharon D Clarke, whose “recurring” role was announced alongside new Tardis Team Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill last year.
Radio Times can also now reveal Clarke’s character name – Grace.
And the guest star news doesn’t stop there, because in a separate release Chibnall has revealed the names of two more guest stars for the series’ first episode – Johnny Dixon and Samuel Oatley – while also clarifying which of the first two episodes will feature which actors.
Specifically, according to the BBC, Sharon D Clarke, Johnny Dixon and Samuel Oatley will appear in episode one while Shaun Dooley, Susan Lynch and Art Malik will be introduced in episode two.
Of course, that still leaves eight episodes worth of guest stars yet to be revealed, but hey – this is definitely a good start.
You can read Chris Chibnall’s full Doctor Who series 11 preview in the latest issue of Radio Times, on sale in shops and on the newsstand from Tuesday 18th September
This article was originally published on 18 September 2018
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
