New Companion for the Doctor

I've only been a Doctor Who fan since 2005 but in that time there have been three different actors playing the Doctor and amongst them they've had numerous companions to accompany them on their adventures. Those adventures will end for the most recent companions Amy and Rory Pond played by Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill (pictured above). They will return for a few episodes when the new season starts up sometime in the fall, but their story will end then, apparently in "heartbreaking" fashion. Sigh. Matt Smith will remain as the Doctor until the show's 50th Anniversary next year and perhaps even beyond, but he will have a new companion who will make her first appearance in this year's Christmas special as announced yesterday.

All that means is that fandom will have a good nine months to preemptively judge and/or obsess over her without seeing a second of her performance on Doctor Who. So, who is she? Well she's Jenna-Louise Coleman, a 25 year old British actress whose other credits include stints on Emmerdale and Waterloo Road. She's also in Julian Fellowes Titanic miniseries airing later this year so we'll all get a chance to see her on screen before she hops into the TARDIS. I'm actually not at all worried since I've pretty much loved every single actor who have been companion with Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman, Catherine Tate, along with Gillan and Darvill, having all done fantastic jobs. So I'm sure Coleman will fit right in. It helps that she seems totally adorable and excited about the part.

I do hope there's some sort of twist to her character though. A mid-20s white girl was probably the safest thing they could've done, but it's a proven formula for this long-running show, which is why I'm hoping the character details will be a bit more interesting. Already showrunner Steven Moffat says that how she will meet the Doctor "isn't your usual boy meets girl" and that it will be "one of the biggest mysteries the Time Lord ever encounters" which gives me a bit hope. Maybe she's an alien. Or another Time Lord. Or connected to him in some other crazy way. One of my favorite theories floating in the internet right now is that she's somehow been living in the TARDIS all this time. It's a stretch, but it's definitely a fun idea! Argh! Look at me obsessing already.