Doctor Who Announces Laura Fraser and Anjli Mohindra to Make Guest Appearances

Doctor Who has revealed two new Season 12 guest stars. Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad actress Laura Fraser and Bodyguard star Anjli Mohindra will both appear in the upcoming season of the long-running BBC sci-fi series. The BBC offered no details about their characters in order to avoid spoiling the season premiere on New Year's Day. "It was a real joy to welcome Anjli and Laura to the show," said executive producer Matt Strevens. "We've wanted to work with them since we started and have found the perfect characters for them to show off their talent and range – both formidable in very different ways."

"I love this episode and couldn't resist playing such an intense character," said Fraser. "I watched Doctor Who every week as a child, so it was a massive thrill to be asked to take part in such an iconic show."

"As a huge fan of the last series, it's a bit of a dream come true getting to work opposite Jodie, Mandip, Tosin and of course after all these years, to work with Bradley again!" said Mohindra. "There's something undeniably special about Jodie's Doctor, and to be bringing some terror to the joint was rather fun indeed."

The season opens with the two-part episode "Spyfall." Showrunner Chris Chibnall has said it's the biggest episode of Doctor Who ever.

"Episode one is probably the biggest episode of Doctor Who we've done, or has been done, I would imagine. Physically, there's a lot of stunts, there's a lot of locations, it's a globe-trotting action thriller," Chibnall tells Deadline. "But you don't want to lose sight of character and intimacy and emotion. You can't do everything at 11.

"It's easy to take for granted how loved Doctor Who is around the world and how loved it is in Britain, how important is to the BBC. How important it is to iPlayer – even when the show is off air. It's got its own space in this world of streaming and on-demand and it's much more than just linear broadcasting. Look at Netflix and Amazon, who have the back catalog, the importance of it to any number of industrial partners globally is kind of enormous."

Jodie Whittaker returns to star as the Thirteenth Doctor. She debuted in the role in Season 11, becoming the first woman to play an incarnation of the Doctor. The new season also sees the return of Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill as Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair, and Yasmin Khan, respectively. The new season of Doctor Who premieres on New Year's Day on BBC One and BBC America.