Varada Sethu, who played Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) companion, Belinda Chandra, says she’d like to come back to Doctor Who, and hit back at criticisms of her character arc conclusion in The Reality War.

Speaking to MTV UK’s Chaiming In, Sethu responded to criticisms of Belinda’s exit storyline – which saw her become a full-time mother to Poppy, who might have been Susan’s mother or the Doctor’s child (or something) – saying such criticisms were “unfair”.

Varada also said she “would love to go back” to the show:

“But it’s all wrapped up for now. Russell [T Davies, showrunner] left it as it was, ‘The door’s always open’.”

It isn’t entirely clear from the report of the interview in the Radio Times if Davies said “the door’s always open”, or if it is Varada’s own comment. It’s not clear either what the comment actually refers to, since Davies appears to be concentrating on publicising his new series, Tip Toe, and the TARDIS door seems firmly closed for now as the show is not currently in production.

Varada also spoke about meeting Carole Ann Ford, who played Susan, the Doctor’s first companion, and appeared to dramatic and inexplicable effect in last season’s final episodes. Varada said that meeting Carole was among the most moving moments of her time on Doctor Who:

“As I was having this conversation with her, the history of 60 years just came crashing down on me… To a certain extent, you can push it to the back of your mind that you’re part of this.

“But in that moment, talking to the person that did it for the first time, that went through me completely.”

Varada’s interview with Carole Ann Ford is available on YouTube.