Doctor Who will be fine without Millie Gibson

For a fanbase that regularly deals with Dalek invasions, armadas of Cybermen, and some pretty dodgy scripts, there’s never been a group more prone to panic than Doctor Who fans.

This weekend, the thing that set the fandom’s cloister bell ringing was the rumor that Millie Gibson, the actor who plays the 15th Doctor’s first companion, was leaving Doctor Who after just one season. Sure enough, no sooner had the story hit the internet than social media was full of more wailing fans than a Taylor Swift concert, with people speculating what could have forced Gibson off the show after such a short spell in the TARDIS.

Was there a falling out with showrunner Russell T Davies? Did she not like the scripts? Was the pressure of being on arguably the biggest show in Britain (aside from The Traitors) too much for her? On and on, it went like the world’s most boring game of telephone before eventually, Variety confirmed the news that, yes, Millie Gibson was handing in her TARDIS key at the end of Doctor Who Season 14.

All part of the grand cosmic plan

Here’s the thing, though: Millie’s leaving isn’t something to panic about, and despite the rather pointed use of the word “dropped” in several headlines, there’s no evidence to support the idea that this wasn’t part of the plan from the beginning. In fact, we know that Millie’s been seen filming scenes for Season 15, which suggests her departure was on good terms.

Indeed, the source who spoke to The Mirror – the paper that broke the news – never actually said she’d been “dropped.” Their exact words were, “Millie Gibson has all but left now, and there’s a brand new companion, which is really exciting,” before adding. “Russell is keeping things moving and isn’t letting the grass grow, that’s for sure.”

That doesn’t read like Millie was let go from the show or that she unexpectedly quit. In fact, it sounds rather positive, as though Millie was always planned to be a one-season companion. That would definitely line up with the way Davies structured his previous series. He’s always preferred to rotate the companions; we got one season with Martha, one with Donna (technically two now), and now we’re getting one with Millie.

The only exception to this rule was Rose – however, it could be argued that her extended tenure had more to do with Christopher Eccleston’s early regeneration and the need for some connective tissue between that series and David Tennant’s first run in the TARDIS. Still, historical examples of two-season companions aside, there’s a reason this is potentially very exciting.

Having Ruby only stick around for one season means that instead of dragging out a narrative long past its expiration date, Davies will be forced to tell it in a concise and (hopefully) entertaining way. That means we’re not going to be sitting around for three years waiting to find out who Ruby’s mom is (if that’s the route Davies chooses to go). Instead, like the Doctors themselves, the series will be able to keep evolving and moving forward.

More than that, Millie Gibson’s return in Season 15 makes it sound as though Davies is rebuilding the Doctor’s network of normal human allies on Earth (sorry, Paternoster gang and UNIT soldiers). It’s something that’s been missing from Doctor Who since Davies’ first departure (and got worse once the Ponds were killed by that Weeping Angel), that feeling that the Doctor is kept in Earth’s orbit not because the Sontaraans choose to invade every other Tuesday but because it’s where his family lives.

So, if you read the news about Millie’s departure and thought it spelled the end of Doctor Who, then don’t worry; companions come and go, the Doctor changes their face, but the show lives on, and with Davies at the helm, we’re confident its best days are ahead of it.