Ahead of the New Year’s Day Special Resolution, Blogtor Who profiles guest star Nikesh Patel, who plays Mitch
Although Resolution guest star Nikesh Patel only broke into acting this decade, the past seven years have seen him steadily assume bigger and bigger roles in more and more major productions. In 2012 he joined the cast of Sky’s horror series Bedlam for its second season. As Dan, he was the womanizing barman at an apartment complex converted out of a haunted mental hospital.
Small roles soon followed as an MI6 agent in London Has Fallen, and in slightly misjudged action thriller Honour. In Honour he was the ‘inappropriate’ finance that leads the family of Aiysha Hart’s Mona to dispatch an assassin.
But it will have been as Aafrin in 2015’s Indian Summers that he will have come to the attention of many viewers. Channel 4’s lavish series about India under British rule starred Patel’s Aafrin as a man particularly torn between two worlds. Especially due to his intense attraction to the Englishwoman Alice. And this was followed by a more modern fish-out-of-water scenario as he starred in the indie comedy movie Halal Daddy. Halal Daddy centred on the attempts to open a halal abbatoir in Ireland’s rural west coast. The film drew its gentle comedy from Patel navigating the difficult waters between two men. His controlling father (The Ghost Monument’s Art Malik) and his salt of the earth prospective father-in-law (Colm Meaney).
After Resolution Patel is already lined up to appear in more high profile projects
Nikesh Patel already has two project filmed and lined up for release after his turn in Doctor Who. In the long awaited adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s young adult series Artemis Fowl, Patel will play the centaur Foaly. As part of the LEP (Lower Elements Police) he’s effectively the Q of the series, providing gadgets, tools and intelligence to prove invaluable for each new adventure. As such, we can also expect Patel on our movie screens for many Aretmis Fowl movies to come.
Patel is also set, almost literally, to become the new Hugh Grant. Next year will see the premiere of a new TV series re-imagining classic ‘Cool Britannia’ movie Four Weddings and a Funeral. Patel takes the central role of Kash, the socially awkward Englishman and struggling actor. But Kash’s life is turned upside down when he’d dragged into the love lives and friendships of a quartet of Americans.
In Resolution, Patel plays Mitch. Not much is known about Mitch’s role in the drama but we can presume from the trailers and images that he’s one of the team who unwittingly unearth a terror that’s lain dormant in the earth for over a thousand years. But will he be an ally to the Doctor or an early casualty of extermination? We’ll have to wait and see.
Doctor Who Will Return…
Doctor Who returns with Resolution by Chris Chibnall on BBC One on New Year’s Day at 7pm, and at 8pm EST on BBC America. For further broadcast times in your region, check local listings.
Doctor Who stars Jodie Whittaker (The Doctor), Mandip Gill (Yasmin Khan), Bradley Walsh (Graham O’Brien) and Tosin Cole (Ryan Sinclair). Resolution guest stars Charlotte Ritchie (Lin), Nikesh Patel (Mitch) and Daniel Adegboyega (Aaron). Wayne Yip directs the special.
As the New Year begins, a terrifying evil is stirring from across the centuries of Earth’s history. As the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz return home, will they be able to overcome the threat to planet Earth?
