Peter Capaldi has shared a few details about the new Doctor Who companion, expanding on previous comments made last month about Clara Oswald’s replacement. And it looks like it’s definitely a she…
Although Capaldi could just be citing historical precedent which tends to favour a female companion, he told Mexican Blogger La Lata (via Radio Times) when asked about his new assistant (at the 10:05 minute mark on the video below)
“I think the companion has to be someone who’s not so impressed by the Doctor – she’s not an assistant, she’s not a servant, she can’t be that – she has to be someone who really says ‘are you sure that’s the right thing to do? What are you doing?’ and also doesn’t take him seriously.”

So far we know that the new companion for the Twelfth Doctor has already been cast and that we can expect a different take on the role following Jenna Coleman’s departure – hinting that we could be getting a very down-to-earth interpretation of the role in the mode of, say Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble or even, be still our beating hearts, Faye Marsay’s Shona McCullough (although, as has already been said, the companion will be someone we’ve never seen before, so maybe not).
Speaking to Brazilian website Omelete in March Capaldi said:
“Clara had prior knowledge of the Doctor. It was conceived as a human connected to your timeline, and so had access to the cosmic nature of the Doctor. She understood a little about how he was. And as she was already with [Eleventh Doctor] Matt [Smith], she knew the Daleks and the TARDIS. Now we have someone who knows very little about the Doctor.”
Earlier reports had suggested that former EastEnders actress Rakhee Thakrar was amongst those shortlisted for the role – going so far as to suggest she had auditioned in front of an audience and producers.
If Thakrar has indeed been cast, she would be the first non-white main companion since Freema Agyeman’s Martha Jones left the show in 2008.
So the picture being painted so far is of someone who is very down-to-earth, who won’t take him too seriously, and perhaps is unimpressed by his posturing and self-importance – it feels like we’re very much shedding a lot of baggage and reverting back to focusing on the relationship between the Doctor and his closest friend.
Are you happy with a down-to-earth companion? Or would you we have something different, perhaps something alien? Who do you think would make a good companion?