guess who
Huge TV presenter lands part in Doctor Who amid fears for show’s future
The star shared a first look at their appearance with a trailer as fans went wild
RYLAN Clark has excitedly announced he's landed a part in Doctor Who - amid fears for show's future.
TV presenter Rylan, 36, will play himself in the upcoming fifteenth series, hosting an intergalactic version of Eurovision, dubbed the Interstellar Song Contest.
2
2
The X Factor legend was officially revealed in the BBC drama's latest trailer, which sees Ncuti Gatwa return as the Fifteenth Doctor.
Other guest stars include Anita Dobson as Mrs Flood, Bonnie Langford as Mel Bush, Jemma Redgrave as UNIT chief Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Ariyon Bakare, who previously played Leandro in the series.
Also joining the cast are Slow Horses star Christopher Chung, Crashing actress Julie Dray, and World on Fire's Jonah Hauer-King.
Rylan, who has been a staple of the BBC’s Eurovision presenting team, expressed his excitement about joining Doctor Who.
read more on RYLAN Clark
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, he shared the teaser, writing: "Genuinely never thought in my wildest dreams I’d be able to say I was part of the Whoniverse.
"A full on dream come true. Hope you enjoy x."
He added in a statement: "As a massive Whovian, getting the call to be in Doctor Who was a call I’ve always dreamed of getting.
"The episode is all my favourite things about the show with an added song contest set in space.
Most read in Drama
"It really is a dream come true. I can’t wait for everyone to see it. It is going to be out of this world."
French actress Julie also shared her enthusiasm for the Eurovision-themed special, which is set to air on May 17 - the same night as the real-life song contest in Basel, Switzerland.
Rylan Clark hits back after new Dating Naked show is branded 'disgraceful'
She said: "I had such an amazing time working alongside Rylan while wearing some beautiful prosthetics, and can't wait for audiences to see the spectacular Interstellar Song Contest be brought to life. Voilà!"
The highly anticipated episode has been penned by sci-fi writer Juno Dawson, who previously described it as "the most ridiculous episode they’ve ever done – and the most expensive".
Fans won’t have to wait much longer to see Rylan’s Doctor Who debut, with the new series set to air in April.
Doctor Who's future is looking rather bleak, with the 2025 Christmas special set to be scrapped for the first time in six years after a plunge in ratings.
The BBC finally confirmed Doctor Who will return in April with actor Ncuti Gatwa as the titular Time Lord, but he is already believed to have filmed his regeneration exit scene — and crew fear the BBC will then axe the show altogether after 62 years.
A source told The Sun: “There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding Doctor Who at the moment and it looks like the beloved Christmas special won’t be happening.
“It seems the ep just wasn’t commissioned. People had no doubt be hoping that next series would be in the bag and that would include the festive edition.
“But things are very much hanging in the balance and bosses don’t even know if Ncuti will be returning – let alone if there is time to bash out a new episode for Christmas Day.”
Typically filmed a year in advance, the Christmas special was expected to be locked into the schedule.
But with the current 26-episode deal — which covered anniversary specials The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle, plus the 2023 and 2024 festive episodes, two eight-episode series, and five spin-offs — now nearing its end, the show’s future is hanging by a thread.
A source told The Sun: “Ncuti doesn’t want to be tied to the series beyond this and plans to relocate to Los Angeles with several Hollywood projects standing by for him.
“His team also see a lot of fan backlash from the series, and don’t want the perception of him still being The Doctor to get in the way of any future work.
“The show has been poorly managed in recent years and there’s a lot of people who’ve been working on this show for years and now being cast aside due to poor leadership.
“People warned some episodes were getting too caught up on an agenda rather than telling a story and those people got shouted down, ignored.”
Ncuti’s first series, which began last May, attracted between 2.25million and 3.18million viewers — a tiny fraction of what it used to pull in.
A trio of 60th anniversary title The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder and The Giggle aired at the end of 2023, with controversy over the storylines.
One involved a character who was able to save London because they were trans.
Another anniversary special saw The Doctor — played by the returning David Tennant — realise he was gay after developing a crush on Sir Isaac Newton.
Viewing figures for those were still two million up on the episodes to come under Ncuti, accompanied by companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson.
The first full series with Ncuti and Millie then had plots slamming everything from capitalism to Christianity — and introduced a new enemy played by a drag queen.
A huge question mark now hangs over whether Disney will renew its deal to make the show, said to be worth £100million, with the BBC.
Crew working on the series in Cardiff are said to be furious at being left in limbo after filming wrapped earlier this month.
An insider said: “Word on set is that the BBC will shelve the series for at least five years. The crew were told not to hold their breath for work on the series for at least ten years.
Read More on The Sun
"As we scramble to find work, those responsible get to ride off on to other well-paid projects without any repercussions. Filming wrapped on Friday afternoon, with no fanfare or celebration.”
It would be the first time since 2017 that the TARDIS won’t grace TV screens on December 25th — leaving fans wondering whether the Doctor’s latest regeneration might come with a painful cliffhanger.
Topics