Fifteenth Doctor actor, Ncuti Gatwa, has confirmed our suspicions, that new companion, Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu), doesn’t want to travel in the TARDIS at all.

Gatwa said:

“Belinda challenges the Doctor in ways he hasn’t been before. She has absolutely no desire to be in the TARDIS and really wants to get back home. Which is hilarious! This Doctor has been used to using his charm or the mystery of his life to win people over, but none of that works on Belinda. And she challenges the way the Doctor has been used to doing things, as she’s equally headstrong. They push each other’s limits.”

Indeed, it’s comparatively rare to have a companion who doesn’t want to travel in time and space; arguably, Rory didn’t, at least initially, before being really welcomed on board in Amy’s Choice; Martha Jones was irked when the TARDIS took off with her inside during Series 4; but before that, we might have to go back to perhaps Peri Brown, on and off, or even Tegan Jovanka, who repeatedly asked the Fifth Doctor to get her back to Heathrow.

Gatwa’s comments also point to there being a reason Chandra doesn’t want to be in the TARDIS — this could be, as Sethu alluded to before, that she’s cut off from her own time, though that’s just an inference right now.

We did get the hint from various teaser trailers that Belinda wanted to get home more than anything else, either way!

Either way, we’ll find out very soon because Doctor Who Series 15 starts on BBC1, iPlayer, and Disney+ next month.