Archie Panjabi will play a villain in the new season of Doctor Who.
Season 2 of Doctor Who has found its villain. According to Deadline, Emmy Award winner Archie Panjabi will star in the second season of the series as a villain, though details about Panjabi’s character are being kept under wraps. The second season of Doctor Who has already wrapped production, as confirmed by showrunner Russell T. Davies back in May, and is expected to debut sometime in 2025 on Disney+ and BBC One
Panjabi is best known to American audiences for her role in 2002’s Bend It Like Beckham in which she played Pinky Kaur Bhamra. She’s also appeared in films such as 2005’s The Constant Gardener, 2006’s A Good Year, 2007’s A Mighty Heart, and 2015’s San Andreas. Her television credits include The Fall and Shetland on BBC Two and BBC respectively as well as NBC’s Blindspot, TNT’s Snowpiercer, and Hulu’s Under the Bridge as well as her role as Kalinda Sharma on CBS’ The Good Wife, for which she won an Emmy in 2010. She currently stars in Peacock’s Departure.
As for what fans can expect in the upcoming season of Doctor Who, one thing that Davies has previously confirmed is that Ruby Sunday’s (Millie Gibson) story is not over. While the Season 1 finale saw an emotional goodbye between Ruby and The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa), Davies confirmed that Gibson will return as Ruby — and her story is not finished.
“I absolutely can tell you that Ruby Sunday has not finished her story,” Davies said. “Millie Gibson’s coming back. That’s not a spoiler, it’s an absolute fact. We’re very excited.”
We also know that there is more to the Mrs. Flood mystery as it was also previous confirmed that Mrs. Flood (Anita Dobson) will be returning in Season 2 with Davies having previously teased that the journey towards Mrs. Flood’s real identity will be “the ride of a lifetime.”
“Why was Mrs. Flood standing on a rooftop making those pronouncements? Davies previously posited. “All I can say is, you are literally in for the ride of a lifetime.”
Doctor Who will next return with a Christmas special, “Joy to the World”, which will feature Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan.
“I can’t give away much more but work has begun on it already, and it’s mad, it’s one of the maddest Christmas specials you’ll ever see,” Davies said previously. “It’s epic, it goes to so many different places. And it’s a great story of who the Doctor is when he’s alone.”
Doctor Who is now streaming on Disney+.