Torchwood’s Indira Varma returns to Doctor Who universe

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Award-winning actress Indira Varma will return to the Doctor Who universe in the next series starring Ncuti Gatwa playing a character called the Duchess, according to Doctor Who Magazine.

Varma starred as Suzie Costello in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood in the 2006 episodes Everything Changes and They Keep Killing Suzie.

“I’m overjoyed to be reunited with Indira after the Torchwood days,” Russell T Davies told DWM. “and this part is truly spectacular! A whole new audience will be hiding behind the settee when the Duchess unleashes her terror.”

“Such a delight to work with Indira Varma again, after the magnificent and deadly Suzie in Torchwood. This time, it’s all bigger and wilder and madder,” Davies added on Instagram.

“I’m thrilled to be in Doctor Who and particularly excited to be crossing cosmic paths with Ncuti, as the Doctor, and look forward to creating interplanetary mischief with him,” Varma stated in a subsequent press release. “I loved playing Suzie Costello for Russell T Davies in Torchwood so am thrilled to be entering this world again.”

Varma is also known for her work in popular television series including Rome, Luther, and Game of Thrones and Obi-Wan Kenobi, in which she plays double agent Imperial officer Captain Tala Durith who helps Obi-Wan and Leia Organa escape the Empire.

She is also cast in the upcoming HBO Max television series Dune: The Sisterhood.

Varma won and Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a play for her role in Present Laughter.

Doctor Who will return in November 2023 with three 60th anniversary specials starring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as companion Donna Noble. In the following festive period, Ncuti Gatwa will star in his first full Doctor Who episode as the Fifteenth Doctor. A new Doctor Who series starring Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson will debut in 2024.

Doctor Who Magazine issue 591 is on sale Thursday 25 May from Panini and WH Smith and is also available as a digital edition from Pocketmags.