When Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor returns to our screens, he’ll be joined by a new companion: Belinda Chandra, played by Varada Sethu. During a recent press conference promoting the upcoming season of Doctor Who, the pair discussed their working relationship and the special dynamic between the Doctor and Belinda.

“It was definitely a joy coming back to the second season and being able to explore the character further. Having him feel more settled in my skin,” said Gatwa. “So there was more comfortability, and there were more areas I wanted to explore and obviously new challenges. Well, challenges isn’t the right word, but for the character anyway, he was going to grow in different ways, ’cause of new people in his life. Varada hit the ground running and smashed it from the first day.”

“Oh, but you laid it out. You were so welcoming,” Sethu chimed in.

“You were brilliant,” Gatwa insisted to his co-star. “I think it’s interesting these two roles in this show, they really have to lean on each other equally. As actors playing these roles, but then also narratively. [The Doctor and Belinda] both have the challenge of trying to get back home… The Doctor doesn’t know why he can’t, so they’re equally as confused. They equally have to lean on each other.”

As teased in the trailer for the season, Belinda breaks the companion mold a bit (at least by modern Doctor Who standards) in that she’s actually not too keen to travel in the TARDIS with the Doctor. In fact, after her first offworld experience, Belinda tells him to just take her home. But they both quickly realize something’s wrong, and that won’t be so simple a task.

“This season we’re trying to get back to Earth, which is a deviation from the usual direction, trying to get out into space and tackle things,” Gatwa explained. “But Belinda has absolutely no interest and is not charmed at all by the Doctor. The Doctor lives a very dangerous life. We love the Doctor, [but his life] it’s also very dangerous. And Belinda really has to take stock of that.”

“They’re very much equals,” Sethu said. “They’re a team figuring out how to get back home. ‘Cause she decided, she’s very much got her own life, her own plot, her own main character journey. And when she gets plucked out of that by the Doctor, in some ways all she wants is to go home. She doesn’t wanna be somebody else’s little adventure. She wants to go back to her life.”

“So the bond they form takes a little longer. It’s slower. But it’s just as deep as any,” Gatwa added. “The payoff is that they really value each other, and they value each other’s value systems. But yeah, she challenges him and calls him out.”

“She holds him accountable,” Sethu confirmed. “And eventually, they become very aligned and they realize that they need to work together. To be this team, to get back to Earth, to get back to where she wants to be. They have a really strong, equal partnership.”

As for their relationship to one another, Gatwa and Sethu both easily heaped praise on their fellow co-star.

“What Varada brings out of the text is just so brilliant. We’re speaking a lot of sci-fi language, a lot of words that don’t exist. It’s specific and tough and complex. And Varada is able to take that language and make it so authentic and so naturally hers. The way you interpret text is just incredible,” Gatwa told Sethu. “As cliche as this is to say, truth is what I think you want to try and communicate when you’re acting. And I’ve just gotten that tenfold from you. I don’t know how to articulately say she’s just a very good actor. The chemistry was just there from the offset.”

“Ncuti is such a brilliant, bright energy. And your Doctor, just like you, is so dynamic. There’s just this energy that you bring to this, to the text, to the screen, to the set, that you can’t help but wanna join and match that energy,” said Sethu. “I keep using the word ‘vibrancy’ for how you play the Doctor. It’s just so vibrant, it’s a joy to be around. You’re such an amazing listener… it’s so easy to work off you. There’s just such a richness in everything he brings to the table.”

“I feel exactly the same about you. Gravitas. Such gravitas!” Gatwa added.

Fans can experience the gravitas of both actors when Doctor Who returns April 12. Episodes will stream on Disney+ in the US.

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