Lenny Rush, who played UNIT’s Morris Gibbons in the Doctor Who Series 14 finale, has revealed that he was originally going to provide the voice of one of the titular Space Babies in the season opener.

Rush recalls:

“I was originally given the voice role of Eric, the Space Baby, in the Space Babies episode. As Eric, I would have only had to voice record, so no filming was needed. In fact, I even did a full readthrough with the cast and crew in the studios and recorded some of my dialogue. A few days after recording some of my dialogue, I was in my bedroom at home and my mum came in and said “I’ve had a message from your agent; unfortunately, you’re no longer playing Eric in Doctor Who.” I was so shocked and sad. Mum decided to leave a long pause before telling me ‘because they’ve given you a bigger part!’ I was over the moon!”

Instead, Eric was voiced by Sami Amber; Lenny was given the role of Morris, which we might infer could be a recurring role, seeing as he only briefly died in Empire of Death but was swiftly brought back. With UNIT personnel sometimes coming back for repeat performances, we may see Rush again.

He goes on:

“[Morris] is also very different to other characters I’ve played. I’ve never acted in the sci-fi genre, so for Doctor Who to be the first sci-fi show I’m in is an honour!”

Morris first appeared in The Legend of Ruby Sunday as a child genius, but who shocked audiences in the next episode by revealing he’s got firepower in his segway.

Are we likely to see Morris again? It’s feasible that he’ll be in the spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, as Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) and Colonel Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient) will be in it. The pair were last seen in the Series 14 finale.