For the second year in a row, Doctor Who has won the Television Critics Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming.

Varada Sethu, who plays companion Belinda Chandra in Doctor Who Season Two accepted the award on behalf of the programme.

“Thank you so, so much to the TV Critics Association for this incredible, incredible honour. I’m so proud to be part of such a beautiful, endlessly talented group of people who’ve created this incredible, magical show. And it just means so, so much to us to have this recognition. So, thank you. I’m so grateful.”

TCA board member Matt Medvich explained why Doctor Who deserved the Family Programming Award.

“The adventures of a two-hearted alien travelling through time and space in an impossibly big police box are inherently entertaining for all. But what Doctor Who attempts and accomplishes along the way is quite special and worthy of recognition. In the long-running sci-fi series latest season, Ncuti Gatwa’s Time Lord and Verata Sethu’s companion Belinda Chandra dealt with timey-wimey crises that also explored timely concepts such as race, inclusivity, and incel culture. In doing so, Doctor Who invited families watching together or separately to have important discussions that transcend their co-viewing experience. What’s more, the series also aims to resolve conflict through clever problem solving and rational mediation and never with gratuitous violence. All told, Doctor Who is equal parts entertaining, illuminating, and mentally stimulating. One might say it’s a show that appeals to all regenerations, and that is why it is TCA’s pick for this year’s Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming.”

The award is welcome recognition in an uncertain time with no news from the BBC on commissioning future series of Doctor Who.