Doctor Who: Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor Who companion to be revealed on BBC's Children in Need

Time Lord’s sidekick set to be revealed live on BBC Children In Need on Friday evening

Ncuti Gatwa, the incoming Doctor Who, will discover who his time-travelling companion will be on Friday evening (November 18).

The Edinburgh-raised actor takes over as the Doctor in 2023, and his sidekick is set to be revealed live on BBC Children In Need.

In May this year it was announced that Sex Education star Gatwa takes over as the Doctor in 2023.

Ncuti Gatwa, the incoming Doctor Who, will discover who his time-travelling companion will be on Friday evening (November 18).

The 15th Doctor’s companion will travel alongside him as they embark on a new set of adventures.

The 30-year-old, who attended Boroughmuir High School, becomes the two-hearted Time Lord when his first episode airs over the festive period in 2023.

The highly anticipated announcement of the new companion will be made live from MediaCityUK in Salford during Friday evening’s broadcast of Children In Need, which is also set to feature exclusive sketches, exciting performances, music, dance and some big surprises.

This year’s show, which helps to raise money to provide frontline support to children and young people across the UK, will be hosted by Ade Adepitan MBE, Mel Giedroyc, Chris Ramsey, Alex Scott MBE and, for the first time, comedian Jason Manford.

Highlights of the evening include special episodes of some of the BBC’s most recognisable programmes, including a children’s takeover of much-loved comedy game show Blankety Blank, which will also include Maisie Smith and John Waite as celebrity contestants.

And Romesh Ranganathan will host a special edition of The Weakest Link, with a Children In Need twist.

The team behind BBC One’s The Repair Shop are also set to share the story behind a particularly special restoration project, and will then reveal the results of the repair live on the Children In Need stage.

Meanwhile, there will be performances from West Lothian chart sensation Lewis Capaldi as well as a bespoke routine from dance troupe Diversity and the Children In Need choir will return with a special rendition of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know.

BBC’s Children In Need airs on BBC One and iPlayer tonight from 7pm.

Actress Jodie Whittaker has said Rwanda-born Gatwa will be “magical” on the show and will reach audiences that she has not been able to.

The 40-year-old British actress has played the 13th incarnation of The Doctor since 2017, after she took over the role from Peter Capaldi.

Speaking last month, Whittaker said: “This family grows and it will be bigger than us and it will go on, and Ncuti will be extraordinary and he will bring an audience that we haven’t reached and his performance will be so magical.

“Now we get to sit back and enjoy it as the fans that we can be now, knowing that whatever is to come we were once a part of that.”

Asked to share some advice for her successor, Whittaker said: “It’s yours for the taking, there’s no advice you can give.

“I’m certainly not giving that phenomenal actor any advice, he doesn’t need it from me.

“Just, it’s yours to own and you’ve earned it.”