Doctor Who‘s migration to Disney+ began with three really good specials, one of which introduced us to Neil Patrick Harris as the Celestial Toymaker and implied the existence of an entity so powerful that even the Great Old Ones fear it. The specials also included a bi-generation and led to a season of adventure for the Doctor and his latest sole companion, Ruby, as they explore a long-arching mystery: Ruby’s parentage.
Of course, the mystery was subsequently solved, but not before briefly reuniting the Doctor with Sutekh, a powerful villain from the Classic Who era. Ruby is now back with her family, leaving the Doctor to travel alone (something River Song warned him against) which would ultimately lead him to Joy in an upcoming Christmas special written by Steven Moffat. But that’s not all; it was recently announced that Archie Panjabi of CBS’s The Good Wife has been cast in Season 2 of Doctor Who in an undisclosed villainous role.
The upcoming season, which wrapped filming while Season 1 was still premiering on Disney+ and BBC, will feature Archie Panjabi opposite Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday, and Verada Sethu’s Belinda Chandra. However, the details regarding Panjabi’s character remain under tight wrap, which is a known practice at both Disney and BBC regarding high-profile releases, and both companies refused to comment on the casting. We do know that the upcoming season is set to premiere sometime in 2025.
In fact, not much is known about the upcoming season save a few details regarding Millie Gibson’s Ruby, as well as Nicola Coughlan’s Joy, which still leaves us in the realm of speculation regarding Archi Panjabi’s villainous role in the upcoming season of Doctor Who. And there’s potentially plenty to be discussed, considering that the Doctor usually encounters all sorts of menacing monsters and foul creatures during his adventures through time, space, and relative dimensions.
Many of these monsters and villains are very imaginative and sometimes borderline fun, like Daleks, who look like a kitchen gadget, the Spielberg-esque and chilling Silence, the Celestial Toymaker, or even the Master. The very mention of the latter might provide some insight into the possible role behind Archie Panjabi’s casting, though, given all the secrecy surrounding the role, we can’t say anything for sure. The Master is Doctor Who’s childhood friend, arch-nemesis, and an overarching villain in many of the show’s stories, so there’s no reason to dismiss his potential return in the upcoming season.
The last we saw the Master was during Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as the Thirteenth Doctor, when, upon his defeat by the Doctor, he landed a fatal laser attack on the Doctor, forcing her regeneration into David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor — the one from the 2023 Specials. Then came the final story of the Specials, which was a legendary speech given by the Celestial Toymaker, in which he explained how he defeated the Master and sealed him for eternity inside his gold tooth.
That same tooth was later seen lying on the ground in the closing shot, complemented by laughter, suggesting the potential return of the Master sometime in the future. Perhaps portrayed by Archie Panjabi? Or was it her hand that we saw picking up the golden tooth containing the Doctor’s arch-nemesis? Is she the One Who Waits, the villainous figure from whom even the Celestial Toymaker, an entity that bends reality to his whim, cowered and ran?
Sadly, the answer to this question will continue to elude us until either Disney or BBC offer more details regarding Archie Panjabi’s casting or until her character is revealed in the upcoming Season 2, scheduled to premiere sometime next year. Whatever the case may be, we have very little doubt that she will excel in this new role, considering that her portrayal of Kalinda Sharma in The Good Wife earned her three Emmy nominations, including her first win in 2010 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
She also appeared in a number of television shows in both the UK and the US, including Life on Mars, Under Bridge, Sea of Souls, Snowpiercer, Blindspot, and The Thin Blue Line, following her breakout role in 2002’s Bend It Like Beckham. She currently stars in and executive-produces the Peacock Original series Departure across its three seasons, and it will be interesting to see her starring opposite Ncuti Gatwa and the companion cast in the upcoming season.
Doctor Who is one of television’s longest-running sci-fi series, which has been running for more than six decades now and has featured plenty of monsters and villains. Some have fallen into oblivion, waiting for their chance to shine again, like the Celestial Toymaker, while others have remained so memorable that they deserved a recurring appearance throughout the series. Which category Archie Panjabi’s character falls into remains to be seen, but if the Toymaker’s promises are to be believed, we’re in for a fantastic surprise.