Millie will play the new companion, Ruby Sunday (Pictures: ITV/BBC)
There was a lot of excitement when Millie Gibson was announced as Ruby Sunday, the new companion for Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Who – not least among her former Coronation Street colleagues.
Millie played Kelly Neelan in Corrie from 2019 to September this year. Kelly was the daughter of loan shark Rick Neelan (Greg Wood), who was killed by Gary Windass (Mikey North).
Kelly later became like a daughter to Gary, but their story came to an explosive climax when Kelly discovered what Gary had done to her dad and became intent on revenge. This culminated in a dramatic showdown on a rooftop for which the show pulled out all the stops. The show’s boss Iain MacLeod
said, ‘The fact that Millie is going and that therefore Kelly is going, allows us to go really big and do something incredibly high stakes,’ and they delivered just that.
When Millie was announced as being part of the Doctor Who cast, her Corrie co-stars were quick to voice their approval of the clearly popular Millie. Charlie De Melo (Imran) said, ‘ I’m struggling to think of a single time, in my entire life, that I’ve been prouder. Love you so very much @MillieGibson01, you absolute diamond! (Nay, RUBY!).’
Speaking to us recently, producer Iain MacLeod added his approval and it’s obvious he’s a huge fan of Millie.
‘I’m thrilled for her,’ he said. ‘I was aware some time ago she was in the running for it. I’m pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to tell me but she did! I kept waiting for a BBC lawyer to say sign this so you don’t reveal it to anyone!’
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Iain managed to keep the secret and he couldn’t be happier for Millie.
’Anyone who’s watched her on the telly knows she is a fantastically talented young woman and thoroughly deserves it,’ he said. ‘I know Russell T. Davies is a Corrie fan so I wonder if that helped her slightly because he would’ve been familiar with her work, I’m sure.
‘It’s brilliant for her and she’ll be brilliant in that role. She is destined for really big things.’
Millie will play the Doctor’s new companion, Ruby Sunday.
