New Doctor Who star Yasmin Finney has revealed that she is "overwhelmed with joy" to be joining the beloved sci-fi show.

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The Heartstopper star will be playing a new character called Rose in the 60th anniversary special in 2023, and she made the new comments about her casting in an interview with Attitude,

"It feels crazy to be part of the Who-niverse, to be seen in the industry as a Black, queer person — it overwhelms me with joy,” she said. "It tells me the industry is changing, we’re slowly getting there."

And she also joked about the possibility of a crossover between Doctor Who and the hit Netflix show Heartstopper, in which she plays the role of Elle.

"That would be amazing: a Doctor Who x Heartstopper crossover would be fab," she said. "We’re manifesting it..."

While little has been revealed about Finney's character so far, her name is very significant – with Rose being an allusion to the Doctor's former companion played by Billie Piper.

Yasmin Finney
Yasmin Finney Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for One Hundred Hotel & GQ Style

Understandably, there's been plenty of speculation amongst the Who fanbase about what that might mean – with some suggesting Finney could be playing a parallel universe variant of Rose Tyler (Piper), and others proposing that she might be Donna Noble's teenage daughter.

What we do know is that the character will definitely be trans, with Finney confirming that while speaking at a London Trans+ Pride event earlier in July.
When her casting was first announced in May, returning showrunner Russel T Davies teased: "Life on Doctor Who gets brighter and wilder, how can there be another Rose?

"You’ll find out in 2023, but it’s an absolute joy to welcome Yasmin to the Doctor Who set."

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.

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Authors

Patrick Cremona, RadioTimes.com's senior film writer looking at the camera and smiling
Patrick CremonaSenior Film Writer

Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.

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