Doctor Who's Nicola Coughlan talks 'incredible' Ncuti Gatwa

Derry Girls and Bridgerton actress Nicola Coughlan has spoken about how excited she is to be part of Doctor Who's upcoming Christmas special.

Coughlan was seen filming in Wales last year, with showrunner Russell T Davies revealing that she would be featured in the 2024 festive episode, as the show's production was that far ahead of the broadcast.

Appearing on The One Show tonight (March 20), the actress didn't reveal who she was playing, but she did talk about how enjoyable it was to be part of the sci-fi universe. She heaped praise upon current Doctor Ncuti Gatwa and joked about trying to swot up on the show's storied history as well – with emphasis on the word 'trying'.

Related: Jodie Whittaker and Brian Cox join Richard Curtis's Netflix Christmas movie

"It's really exciting," she said. "I got the call from Russell T Davies, and he was like, 'Come and hang out with us in Cardiff', and I was like, 'Okay! I know nothing, but I will come.'

"I tried to read the Doctor Who Wikipedia page, and that's, like, a novel in itself. So I don't think I'm going to get from the 1960s to now in my head.

"But [Ncuti Gatwa] is incredible in the role... It was very fun. I think it was meant to be a secret that it was Christmas, but then Russell told everyone."

Gatwa's first season behind the TARDIS is coming up quickly, and details are starting to come out pretty frequently.

Just last week, we learned that the show will return with a double bill on Eurovision night, and all episodes will drop on BBC iPlayer at midnight ahead of their BBC One evening broadcast.

And it's only just been announced that Steven Moffat, who served as showrunner between 2011 and 2017, has returned to write one of this year's episodes.

Doctor Who will return for its 14th series in May, airing on BBC One in the UK and Disney+ elsewhere. Classic episodes of Doctor Who are available on BBC iPlayer in the UK.

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