Sixty years of Doctor Who adventures have provided limitless possibilities for generations of febrile imaginations, whether they belong to its viewers or its writers. After all, how many television heroes can travel wherever they choose in time and space?

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The new season doesn’t disappoint on either front, with the TARDIS touching down in Regency-era England, the Swinging Sixties and, since it can’t all be grounded on planet Earth, a universe populated by space babies.

Unlike previous Doctors, who might arrive in a different epoch or galaxy wearing a second-hand overcoat, multi-coloured scarf, or even a crushed-velvet dinner jacket, this one has the courtesy to dress appropriately. At least in the sense that there is a new outfit for nearly every adventure.

It helps, of course, that the man who plays him, Ncuti Gatwa, is described by his stylist, Pam Downe, as a "clothes horse". He needs to be to pull off some of these looks – not least the tight, white Regency breeches.

But there is more to the new season than a considerably larger wardrobe bill. The adventures are bigger and bolder, the ambition seems to have grown to match the budgets that come from the BBC joining forces with Disney, and at the heart of the series is a winning relationship between Gatwa’s Doctor and his companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson).

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To mark this new start for the latest Doctor, we sent lifelong fan – and Radio 3 arts presenter – Matthew Sweet to test their chemistry. Read his interview with the new Doctor and his latest fellow traveller in this issue, which has three special covers.

Radio Times Doctor Who cover 1 with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson in the TARDIS
Radio Times Doctor Who cover 1.
Radio Times Doctor Who cover 2 with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson on Abbey Road
Radio Times Doctor Who cover 2.
Radio Times Doctor Who cover 3 with Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson in Regency-era outfits outside a grand manor
Radio Times Doctor Who cover 3.

Also in this week's Radio Times:

  • Martin Freeman on BBC’s The Responder, breaking his rule on doing a second season and anxiety around his character’s accent, plus author and screenwriter Tony Schumacher on leaving the police force, and how writing The Responder saved his life
  • BBC Radio journalist Sue Mitchell chats about Radio 4’s podcast To Catch a Scorpion and migrant smuggling
  • Ahead of BBC Two’s Salman Rushdie: Through a Glass Darkly, Rushdie reveals he had a premonition that he was about to be attacked just days before he was stabbed by a man with a knife

Doctor Who returns to BBC One and iPlayer on Saturday 11th May 2024.

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Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

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