Doctor Who Series Fourteen Cast and Crew Update

Doctor Who’s list of directors for Series 14 is now complete, plus: meet Will!

It may still feel like 2023 has barely begun, but Spring is springing, there’s a good stretch to the evenings, pancake day has come and gone, and the shops are full of chocolate eggs. All signs point to time continuing its inevitable march towards the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary in November. And, beyond that, Ncuti Gatwa’s first episode as the Doctor at the end of the year. Series Fourteen itself follows sometime in 2024, and as production continues in full flow, more behind the scenes and casting details are emerging.

We already knew two of the directors for the new series, including The Ghost Monument director Mark Tonderai

As already confirmed, the new series will contain eight episodes, in addition to this year’s festive special. Bad Wolf have split workload into four production blocks, and we now have the final director names to add to the list.

As already reported, Block One, which finished filming at the end of January, was helmed by Dylan Holmes Williams. These are Holmes Williams’ first work on Doctor Who, but he’s very familiar with genre television. His earlier work includes four episodes of Apple’s apocalyptic supernatural chiller series Servant, providing a mix of emotion, action, and pure terror familiar to Who viewers.

Meanwhile, Block Two features Series Fourteen’s only returning director: Mark Tonderai. The director previously helped launch the Jodie Whittaker era with the visually stunning episodes Rosa and The Ghost Monument. Since then, Tonderai has been in near constant demand. His work over the past few years has included episodes of space station-set thriller Nightflyers, Batman origin series Gotham, zombie comedy actioner Daybreak, Stephen King inspired Castle Rock, and supernatural adventure Locke & Key.

Julie Anne Robinson and Ben Chessell both step aboard the TARDIS for the first time to helm episodes this year

Newly announced names, though, includes Julie Anne Robinson who takes charge of Block Three. Like Tonderai she’s an alumna of Hulu’s Castle Rock. Also like him, she’s worked extensively across American television. Her other recent work including popular series like Masters of Sex, The Good Place, and Bridgerton. With shows as diverse as Orange is the New Black, Nurse Jackie, Scandal, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and even criminally underrated Karen Gillan vehicle Selfie under her belt, Robinson is clearly a force to reckon with in both the drama and comedy spheres. She started her career in the UK, however, with early work including Blackpool starring David Tennant and David Morrissey. Indeed, the Bad Wolf team have citing Tennant high praise for Robinson a factor in her finally coming aboard the TARDIS.

Another new face for Doctor Who is Block Four director Ben Chessell. In Chessell’s case this also appears to be his first time stepping into science fiction. His highest profile project to date has been two episodes of critically acclaimed The Great for Channel 4. But other work has included crime drama Girl/Haji, and family centred comedy shows Offspring and The Family Law.

Jack Forsyth-Noble joins Doctor Who as Will

On the casting front, Jack Forsyth-Noble is Will in Block One. Forsyth-Noble has been building his resume in recent years with progressively larger roles in independent films, such as dark thriller Casting Kill and comedy adventure From Suffolk with Love. He’s also appeared in a number of Big Finish stories. These include Doctor Who: The Ultimate Evil as Locus, with Colin Baker. And he was also botched half-converted Cyberman Wulf, opposite David Warner in Doctor Who: Blood and Steel. With Block One featuring the Doctor and Ruby’s first meeting, it’s possible, but unconfirmed, that Will is from contemporary Earth and maybe even someone Ruby already knows as her travels begin.

How big a role Will plays in the Doctor and Ruby’s Series Fourteen adventures is unknown, but he joins the already known cast including Jemma Redgrave, Aneurin Barnard, Anita Dobson, and Michelle Greenidge. But as more episodes continue through their production cycle, more casting is sure to be announced soon.

Doctor Who returns in November with three 60th Anniversary specials