Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who team will have some new co-stars when they return to TV on New Year’s Day, with Charlotte Ritchie, Nikesh Patel and Daniel Adegboyega revealed to be part of the upcoming episode’s cast.


According to the BBC, Ritchie will play a character called Lin, Patel will play Mitch and Adegboyega will play Aaron, but apart from that their roles are shrouded in secrecy.

Until we know more, then, we’ll just have to focus on the actors themselves, all of whom have rather packed TV CVs.

Of course, Ritchie is no stranger to BBC festive specials following her years in Call the Midwife, and her other notable roles include Oregon in Fresh Meat, Hannah in Siblings and an upcoming part in BBC comedy series Ghosts.

Patel, meanwhile, is probably best known for his major role in Channel 4 period drama Indian Summers, though he’s also had parts in London Has Fallen, Law and Order: UK and Midsomer Murders.

Next year he’ll play a tech-savvy centaur in Kenneth Branagh’s Artemis Fowl and one of the leads in Mindy Kaling’s Four Weddings and Funeral reboot. In other words, counting this special, 2019 looks to be a big year for the Nikesh Patel CV.

And then there’s Adegboyega, who has recently appeared in Sky Atlantic’s Save Me, ITV’s Father Brown, Channel 4 comedy Man Down and movies like Transfomers: The Last Knight and (coincidentally) Last Knights (main image) among other projects, as well as copious theatre work over the last few years.

Together they’ll join regulars Jodie Whittaker, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill and Bradley Walsh in the New Year’s adventure written by Chris Chibnall – though what they’ll all be getting up to remains a bit of a mystery for now.


Doctor Who returns to BBC1 on 1 January 2019