Williams wants to see Ashildr team up with Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor.
The beloved, long-running sci-fi series, Doctor Who is entering a new era following the franchise’s 60th anniversary last fall. After leaving audiences with a David Tennant-shaped cliffhanger for over a year, the series celebrated the momentous anniversary with three new specials serving as a bridge between the 2005-2022 era and the next chapter. Ncuti Gatwa made his grand debut via bigeneration in the third special, “The Giggle,” and took on his first full adventure as The Doctor in 2023’s Christmas special, “The Church on Ruby Road.” He’s set to take the TARDIS on many more escapades in the coming years, with Season 1 set to begin airing on Disney+ in May, and Season 2 currently filming in the UK.
Whether you watched it all as it aired, or you’ve been binge-watching recently to prepare for Gatwa’s turn as The Doctor, we can all agree that the past two decades of Doctor Who have been filled with incredible stories and just as many dazzling new characters. One of the most intriguing new faces to join the franchise made her debut in Peter Capaldi’s second season as the twelfth Doctor. In the Series 9 episode, “The Girl Who Died,” Maisie Williams plays Ashildr, a young Viking girl who’s killed in a battle with the Mire. However, she’s made immortal when the Doctor remembers his primary purpose in life is to save people. Ashildr returned in a handful of episodes through the end of Series 9, serving as a foil to the Doctor, before flying away with a now similarly immortal Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) in a spare TARDIS.
Collider’s Maggie Lovitt recently caught up with Williams while the actress made the rounds for the upcoming WWII drama The New Look on Apple TV+. When Lovitt asked whether Williams might ever return to the world of Doctor Who, she enthusiastically said, “Yeah, potentially!” She went on to say:
“I’d love to work with Ncuti, that would be so cool. I actually had never even [thought] about— People are always asking me about Arya, that no one asks me about Ashildr. So maybe! I would love that, yeah that would be cool.”
Maisie Williams Isn’t The Only ‘Doctor Who’ Alum That Wants to Work WIth Ncuti Gatwa
Williams’ comments come hot on the heels of Alex Kingston confessing that she would also love to work with Gatwa at MegaCon Orlando. Kingston played River Song, the child of the TARDIS (and Amy and Rory), and the Doctor’s wife, across five seasons of Doctor Who. While neither Williams nor Kingston has officially been asked back to the series — that we know of — Kingston did tease at MegaCon that River’s journey may not be over yet, saying, “It was such a wonderful journey and the journey may still continue. Who knows?”
Gatwa’s first episodes of Doctor Who are available to stream on Disney+ and Season 1 (or Series 14) is set to arrive on the platform in May. Stay tuned at Collider for further updates and don’t miss Lovitt’s full conversation with Williams.
