Tosin Cole, who plays Doctor Who companion Ryan Sinclair, lands a lead role in upcoming AMC series 61st Street, prompting fans to speculate about his future with the BBC show. Cole joined at the start of season 11, along with Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor, and fellow companions played by Bradley Walsh and Mandip Gill. Season 11 took a major leap for the long-running series when they announced Whittaker as the first woman to take on the role of the doctor.
Cole portrays Ryan Sinclair, a warehouse worker with a developmental disorder who jumps at the opportunity for a more exciting life aboard the T.A.R.D.I.S. He finds himself, along with his step-grandfather Graham O’Brien (Walsh) and police officer Yasmin Khan (Gill), on a life changing adventure with Whittaker’s newly regenerated time lord. Together they form a makeshift family as they gallivant through time and space getting into and out of trouble at every stop.
That could be set to change in the near future, as Deadline has reported Cole has signed on to star in new AMC drama 61st Street. The upcoming series will follow the story of Moses Johnson, portrayed by Cole, a talented high school athlete who has his life turned around when he is falsely accused of killing a white police office. Once headed towards college scholarships, Moses sees his dreams dashed over the course of one night, and he’s thrown to the mercy of the corrupt Chicago justice system. Courtney B. Vance, having recently played Johnnie Cochran in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, will be returning to the courtroom as veteran public defender Franklin Roberts. Roberts is described as a past-his-prime attorney who views the case as a last opportunity to take on a corrupted judicial system.
The limited series, which will run for two eight-episode seasons, will be written by Peter Moffat. Michael B. Jordan and Alana Mayo have signed on as executive producers and the series will be produced by AMC studios. Bentley Green, of FX’s Snowfall, has been cast to play Moses’s younger brother Joshua.
While this news doesn’t specifically mention whether Cole will be leaving the long-running BBC franchise for the upcoming AMC drama, it will certainly fuel speculation on the subject going forward. RadioTimes reported Cole has signed up to multiple convention appearances apart from the rest of the cast, which has increased speculation of his departure. While Doctor Who season 11 did well in the ratings, it was one of the most polarizing seasons of Doctor Who yet with some fans being put off by the stark changes brought around by new showrunner Chris Chibnall. Some even criticized the series for how they handled the new companions, suggesting the series struggled trying to introduce too many new characters at once. Given these recent announcements, it’s possible Doctor Who season 13 starts with a less-crowded T.A.R.D.I.S. than fans have grown accustom to.
More: Doctor Who Theory: Season 12’s Master Is From The Eleventh Doctor’s Era
Doctor Who season 12 episode 5 airs January 26 on BBC One.
Sources: Deadline, RadioTimes
