“Millie’s the best of everything,” says Russell T Davies.
The great voyage. The finding of the companion. I always think the title Doctor Who is a question, and who’s asking it? Well, from now on, it’s Ruby Sunday. And this is the story of how we were lucky enough to find Millie Gibson.
First things first, we turn to our casting director, Andy Pryor. He’s been casting Doctor Who since 2005, and he’s a proper mate, we love the man. So the first thing for him to establish is: what kind of role is this? In simple terms, are we looking for a well-known name? Or someone new? And the answer, as with all things, is “It depends.” Could go either way! But we knew that Ruby would be young – by the time Millie was cast, six scripts had already been written – and that suggested, perhaps, a brand-new face.
Then Andy and his team conjure up their lists – all the names that might work, with wildcards thrown in, plus some complete opposites, just in case, to test the boundaries. In a way, Andy’s auditioning the production team, finding out what we love, what we hate, what we’d never think of.