New Companion Announced!

[Darkglasses]

So the new companion to Matt Smith's Doctor, who will first appear in the 2012 Christmas special, is (drum roll please)...

Jenna-Louise Coleman

Here is her IMDB profile

She is a relative unknown, which seems to be an ideal way to cast the companion these days and she is certainly very attractive so that's a plus!

One thing is for sure though; her name isn't very 'opening credits' friendly 


The Following is taken from the official announcement on the BBC Doctor Who Website (HERE)

Lead writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat, says: "It always seems impossible when you start casting these parts, but when we saw Matt and Jenna together, we knew we had our girl. She's funny and clever and exactly mad enough to step on board the TARDIS."

"It's not often the Doctor meets someone who can talk even faster than he does, but it's about to happen. Jenna is going to lead him his merriest dance yet. And that's all you're getting for now. Who she's playing, how the Doctor meets her, and even where he finds her, are all part of one of the biggest mysteries the Time Lord ever encounters. Even by the Doctor's standards, this isn't your usual boy meets girl."

[Ian]

Note there is also official confirmation that series seven will be 14 episodes and span two years into 2013.

BBC news story

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17456505

[judgefloyd]

Damn, I was just getting used to Amy.  There is a very naughty news-parody website that has a story about this which is very funny, but I don't think I'm allowed to link to it.  It includes hower, the idea that the new companion could have been a talking cake, which would have been awesome.

[TomH1138]

Yes, very exciting news!

Random thoughts:

--My first reaction, when I found out on Wednesday: Coleman looks waaaay young. Like, she could be playing a teenager in the series (much the way that Susan and Ace were "teenagers" played by women in their 20s). I wonder if that's the plot?

(It's interesting to note, though, that despite her young looks, Coleman is actually 18 months older than Karen Gillan!)

As I said, that was my first reaction. Having seen this article now with the attached photo, I can now see her a bit more as a sexy bombshell a la Karen Gillan. (WARNING! Season spoilers in the article itself!)

http://blastr.com/2012/03/its-official-doctor-whos.php

--I'm still a bit sad that the new Companion isn't a guy or an alien or a robot or something radically different. On another forum I visit, where the folks were unaware of the discussion going on here, they were saying the same thing!

--Quote from the Blastr article: "Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat added, 'We saw a lot of brilliant actresses. But Jenna was the only person going faster than Matt—he had to keep up!'" I personally don't mind, but there are a lot of people who already think Matt Smith is hyper-caffeinated. Someone who goes even faster is not going to make these fans happy!

--Regarding the season split-up: Boo! Hiss! Nobody liked the split-up this year. Now they're going to make us wait even longer for new episodes, and then give us a measly five shows before the break?

--In this BBC video interview (linked below), Coleman mentions that she likes working with Matt and Karen, but oddly doesn't mention anything about Arthur.

http://blastr.com/2012/03/its-official-doctor-whos.php

--Going back to the Blastr article: (WARNING! MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW!)
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Quote: "Moffat also teased Amy and Rory's last Who adventure, revealing the return of one of his most famous creations: the Weeping Angels. Again, Moffat teased the possible death(s) of the beloved married couple: 'Amy & Rory will leave in a final encounter with the Weeping Angels in ep 5. Not everyone gets out alive and I mean it this time.'"

Ugh. I think Moffat has tipped his hand. It seems too obvious what he's going to do now: A Weeping Angel is going to kill Rory. Period.

The chances that the Angel will kill Amy seem slim to none. Rory is the one who dies over and over; Amy is the one always mourning him and getting mad at the Doctor. That's Moffat's M.O. I don't think they'll both die, either, but that's just a hunch.

I don't like any of these possibilities because:

1) I like the character of Rory.

2) I get tired of Rory always getting the short end of the stick.

3) Amy & Rory have already had several fond farewells. We don't need another one. We also don't need . . .

4) . . . another Companion exit on a sad note. Didn't RTD do this to death? Can't just one Companion (or one set of Companions) leave happily?

5) All of Season 6, thematically, was about the Doctor thinking that he's a liability to his Companions, and learning that he's really an asset instead. Having Rory or Amy or both of them die completely destroys that entire theme.

So, right now, my reaction is "Ugh, ugh, ugh." As always, I will keep an open mind and actually see what Moffat has in store. But that's my reaction right now.

[judgefloyd]

I too am sick of Rory getting the rough end of the pineapple.

The more I think about it, the more I like the idea of the new companion being a talking cake.  So what if this idea comes from a crude newsparody website - get it together Moffat!

[madness]

Interesting...... Any possibility of it being the Doctor's daughter?

"It's not often the Doctor meets someone who can talk even faster than he does, but it's about to happen. Jenna is going to lead him his merriest dance yet. And that's all you're getting for now. Who she's playing, how the Doctor meets her, and even where he finds her, are all part of one of the biggest mysteries the Time Lord ever encounters. Even by the Doctor's standards, this isn't your usual boy meets girl."

I don't really understand why they would stress the "Who she's playing," bit unless it was someone we'd know like the Dr's Daughter or, even more of a longshot, Romana. Hmmm, maybe this belongs in Kooky Theories...

If they wanted to do a spin off having her on the Tardis for a season would give her advanced knowledge of time travel and potentially set her up with her own Tardis? Ever since there were rumors of them wanted to do a female regen for the Dr. I wondered if they would find a way to do a female version of WHO.

[Nick off of Twitter]

Pretty. Young. White. Girl. Again. 

[Ian]

A few notes.

I actually didn't mind the split of season 6. Sure it was frustrating when the first half ended, but looking back it spread Who over more of last year, which wasn't a terrible thing.

Looking forward to season seven. Correct me if I'm wrong, but nobody has said there will be a gap in seven like there was in six, just that it will split over 2012/2013. So it could run from before Xmas, through the special and straight on into Jan.

Another interesting thing. I believe there are 5 episodes in 2012, excluding the Xmas special. Well if you track back five weekends from Xmas, you land on Saturday Nov 24th, which is rather significant. Could season eight open on the anniversary special? I always assumed it would be the finale.

[TomH1138]

Interesting...... Any possibility of it being the Doctor's daughter?

I don't really understand why they would stress the "Who she's playing," bit unless it was someone we'd know like the Dr's Daughter or, even more of a longshot, Romana. Hmmm, maybe this belongs in Kooky Theories...

This is a strong theory. I wondered about that, too.

Of course, Georgia Moffet is still plenty gorgeous enough to be the Companion herself. But if they approached her about it and she said she wanted to spend that time with her newborn baby instead, then a regeneration would be an excellent way of bringing Jenny back into the story.

(Also notice that this gal looks more like a female version of David Tennant than Georgia Moffet did.)

And the issue of "too many romances on the TARDIS" would be nicely solved if the person traveling with him was family . . . again.

And she looks younger than Matt Smith, so she would be believable as a daughter!

I think you've cracked the puzzle, Madness!

(Of course, Romana would be fun, too, but since Moffat specifically asked that Jenny be kept alive, and she hasn't appeared in the show yet, I'm leaning towards her being the one.)

Meanwhile, I had a really crazy thought a few days ago: What if the (new) Companion was a regenerated Susan? That would be a perfect lead-in to the 50th anniversary season, to bring back an original character.

I have no problem with Carol Anne Ford returning to the role herself, but since replacing Karen Gillan with a woman in her 70s is not going to fly with the network heads (and since Coleman is already cast, anyway), I could definitely see that approach working.

I'm more certain that it's going to be Jenny, but the thought of Susan as the Companion is a fun one.
 

[TomH1138]

Looking forward to season seven. Correct me if I'm wrong, but nobody has said there will be a gap in seven like there was in six, just that it will split over 2012/2013. So it could run from before Xmas, through the special and straight on into Jan.

Good point. However, that would mean we have to wait even longer for new episodes! It's going to kill me to wait until late August/early September as it is.

Another interesting thing. I believe there are 5 episodes in 2012, excluding the Xmas special. Well if you track back five weekends from Xmas, you land on Saturday Nov 24th, which is rather significant. Could season eight open on the anniversary special? I always assumed it would be the finale.

I believe that there will actually be five regular episodes, and then the sixth will be the Christmas special, which will also be the first starring Coleman.

[judgefloyd]

a talking cake which was the Doctor's daughter would be more interesting (he added hopefully)

[Ian]

The new companion will be the mystery missing regeneration of River Song. By the end of season 7 fans will be calling River 'Moffats Rose'

[TomH1138]

LOL!! Love it, Ian!

Other random kooky theories:

The new Companion is a regenerated Bishop from "The Time Meddler."

Or the new Companion is a regenerated Adam from "Dalek"/"The Long Game." He's back, and boy, is he ticked off! 

[Henry Gordon Jago]

The new companion will not be seen onscreen, as Ms. Coleman will be voicing the talking cabbage which shall sit on the Doctor's shoulder from Christmas onward.  Unless she's a Whifferdill, in which case she will in fact portray the cabbage onscreen.

[judgefloyd]

hah, that would be brilliant, and would serve all the 'phwoarr, look at the new sidekick' brigade right. 

yours looking forward to seeing Ms Coleman in a cabbage suit,

Floyd