‘Doctor Who’: Indira Varma Cast as The Duchess

Game of Thrones vet Indira Varma is bringing terror to the TARDIS: The actress — who played GoT‘s Ellaria Sand — has joined the new series of Doctor Who in the mysterious role of the Duchess, the BBC announced.

Doctor Who will celebrate its 60th anniversary this November with three special episodes featuring the return of former series star David Tennant (who portrayed the Tenth Doctor from 2005 to 2010) as the Fourteenth Doctor. Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) will then make his debut as the Fifteenth Doctor in an episode airing over the festive period. (Reminder: Disney+ will be the exclusive home for Doctor Who‘s upcoming adventures starting in November 2023, for territories outside of the UK and Ireland.)

“I’m thrilled to be in Doctor Who and particularly excited to be crossing cosmic paths with Ncuti, as the Doctor, and look forward to creating interplanetary mischief with him,” Varma said in a statement. “I loved playing Suzie Costello for [showrunner] Russell T Davies in Torchwood so am thrilled to be entering this world again.”

Added Davies: “I’m overjoyed to be reunited with Indira after our Torchwood days, and this part is truly spectacular! A whole new audience will be hiding behind the settee when the Duchess unleashes her terror.”

Ready for some more recent newsy nuggets? Well…

* Prime Video has given a series order to Butterfly, a spy thriller based on the Boom Studios graphic novel of the same name, starring and executive-produced by Daniel Dae Kim (Hawaii Five-0), per The Hollywood Reporter. The series will center on “David Jung (Kim), an enigmatic, highly unpredictable former U.S. intelligence operative living in South Korea, whose life is blown to pieces when the consequences of an impossible decision from his past come back to haunt him, and he finds himself pursued by Rebecca, a deadly, sociopathic young agent assigned to kill him,” reads the official logline.

* Paramount+ has renewed the docuseries The Family Stallone, which follows Sylvester Stallone and his wife and daughters, for Season 2.

* Ali Larter (Heroes), Michelle Randolph (1923) and Jacob Lofland (The Son, Justified) have joined co-creator Taylor Sheridan’s upcoming Paramount+ series Land Man, starring Billy Bob Thornton, our sister site Variety reports.

* The 2023 VMAs will air live from New Jersey’s Prudential Center on Tuesday, Sept. 12 on MTV.

* Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley will participate in a live CNN town hall moderated by network anchor Jake Tapper on Sunday, June 4 at 8/7c.

* Netflix has released a trailer for Season 3 of I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson, premiering Tuesday, May 30:

Which of today’s TVLine Items pique your interest?