The Glee star made his Doctor Who debut in this week’s Regency-set episode.
*Warning: Spoilers ahead for Doctor Who season 14 episode 6, Rogue.*
Jonathan Groff made his long-awaited first Doctor Who appearance in last night’s episode Rogue – and it likely won’t take long for fans to begin clamouring for a return thanks to the Glee star’s electric performance in the Regency-set outing.
Although his bounty hunter character Rogue appeared to sacrifice himself to save Ruby (Millie Gibson) at the end of the episode, the door was left firmly open for a return by his final remarks: telling the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) to “find me”.
And Groff himself certainly seems open to reprising his role in future episodes, as he made clear on the latest episode of Doctor Who: Unleashed.
“I hope we’re seeing Rogue again,” he says. “Rogue tells the Doctor at the end of the episode to find him, so it’s totally up to the Doctor. So, the ball is in his court, so to speak!”
That keenness to return will surely come as a boost for fans desperate to see further developments on what seemed like a budding romance between Rogue and the Doctor, so lets keep our fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, speaking about taking on the role, Groff revealed that he found inspiration from one of sci-fi’s most beloved characters.
“Rogue is basically an alien bounty hunter. So I’ve been thinking a lot about Han Solo in Star Wars,” he said.
Elsewhere in the interview, he picked out his dancing scene with Gatwa as the highlight from his time on set.
“The choreography was very much about the connection forming and vibing between the two characters,” he explained. “The day that we performed the dance is so far my favourite day on set.
“There’s a moment in the dance where the lights go out and it’s a spotlight on the two of us dancing, and I… there was no one else in the room but Ncuti.
“It was really transformational and took me to a completely different place with him. Like we were in the stars together dancing.”
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For his part, it certainly seems Gatwa will be keen to reunite with Groff in future episodes, with the star calling him “an incredible actor”.
Meanwhile, showrunner Russell T Davies revealed that he was initially sceptical that Groff would appear in the show at all.
“You have those moments where they say, ‘Shall we send the script to Jonathan Groff?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, go on, waste my time,” he said. “And he read it and loved it. A superstar of a man!”
On Rogue and the Doctor’s dynamic in the episode, he added: “This is a chance for the Doctor to sizzle. We don’t often do this, but it’s like he meets someone who is just on the same… I mean, first of all, they’re enemies, then they’re friends – that classic… they go through classic romcom structures.
“The meet-cute and the arguing and the falling out, then the coming together and then the sacrifice.”
Let’s just hope this is a romcom that has a sequel…
Doctor Who continues Saturdays on BBC One and iPlayer.
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