Rose Ayling-Ellis MBE Joins 'Doctor Who' As Series 15 Guest Star
Hear about the latest casting of someone you probably haven’t heard of
In the here and now, Doctor Who has dropped an early Christmas present revealing one of next season’s guest stars, in actress Rose Ayling-Ellis. Airing next year on the BBC, iPlayer, and Disney+, the episode has been described as “thrilling and frightening”.
Deaf since birth, Ayling-Ellis has been awarded an MBE for her work in the deaf community. The 30-year-old actress’s first major role in an ongoing series was as Frankie Lewis, the first deaf character played by a deaf actress in the long-running British soap EastEnders from 2020 to 2022 and appeared in the recent dramedy Ludwig. She won Strictly Come Dancing in 2021, earning her a Must-See Moment BAFTA TV Award the following year and she became the first deaf presenter at the Paralympic Games. This year, in addition to Ludwig, she was the subject of an episode of the British and original version of Who Do You Think You Are?, which hasn’t stopped compared to the American adaptation which has only had one new season in the past six years.
Ellis put her own statement in the announcement that said: “I loved Doctor Who when I was growing up, so being cast in the show was a dream come true. My inner child is ecstatic with excitement! Working with Russell and filming alongside the talented cast and crew has been an incredible experience. Ncuti is a wonderful Doctor, and I can’t wait for audiences to see what we have created together.” A first look image at her appearance was also released.
That Russell is of course showrunner Russell T. Davies, who has spoken on many if not all of the official casting announcements, and this time is no different. He said “We always want guest actors on Doctor Who to have fun, but Rose takes it to a whole new level. She storms in with an astonishing performance of terror, anger and bravery in one of the most frightening episodes we’ve ever made.”
Doctor Who returns Christmas Day at 12:10 PM Eastern with the special “Joy to the World”, written by Steven Moffat and starring Ncuti Gatwa as the spacetime-traveling Fifteenth Doctor, joined by Nicola Coughlan as the one-off companion Joy, encountering hotel staff, Silurian guests, and Everest expeditioners. In the new regular season, he will be rejoined by his first companion, Ruby Sunday played by Millie Gibson in some unclear capacity, and joined by a second companion, Belinda Chandra, played by one of last season’s guest stars Varada Sethu. Ellis joins Jonah Hauer-King and Archie Panjabi on the roster of the new season’s announced guest stars.
Source: Doctor Who