OMG Aunt!

[jjpor]

I'm not sure whether this will mean anything whatsoever to those of you outside the UK, but the Beeb keep finding new and suprising ways of promoting Who, none more surprising than the announcement that:

The identity of the actor who will be playing Twelve's new companion in Series 10 will be revealed during half time of the FA Cup semi-final

Comments

[wunnerwmn]

The Facebook group for Doctor Who said they'd share the news there as soon as it was revealed. Since I no doubt will have no idea who it is, I'm counting on you here to get me up to speed. :) Didn't Capaldi let it slip recently that it would be - gasp! - a woman? Kinda going out on a limb there.

[gaiamix]

Maybe the actress is a woman but the character is a transman or DFAB nonbinary person.

And yes, the Companion is usually a woman. And yes, that was what they were implying.

Initially the default companion setting, was to have three or two companions, or to have a companion as well as an UNIT family, then to have a companion as well as a robot dog, they did'nt have to be from present-day or be even human.

After Sarah Jane (who had the UNIT family and Harry with her in her first seasons) they went to a multiple companion situation until 1984 with Peri Brown.

Since then, all of the main companions have been girls from present-day Earth. (Peri, Mel, Ace, Rose, Martha, Donna, Amy, Clara) but that's a relatively recent trend.

(Wilf, Mickey, Adam, and Rory are also from present-dayish Earth, so technically even the male companions are, except for Jack Harkness who was born in 51th century)

[jjpor]

You're very right, of course; the choice of actor in theory means relatively little about the sort of character they will be playing. It is acting, after all. ;) That said, there are as you point out certain trends that may or may not be adhered to.

[gaiamix]

Yes, and even if the clothes in the scene looked present-day(ish), the people from Satellite Five don't dress much different than their 2005 counterparts - and that was built in the year 199909

[lost_spook]

Maybe the new companion is in fact a talking football and that's why it seemed appropriate?

[jjpor]

They didn't go down that route as it turns out, but it represents a serious missed opportunity, I think we can agree. ;D

[lost_spook]

It will live somewhere alongside that talking cabbage they never let Tom Baker have... ;-)

[liadtbunny]

OMG Im still not watching football even for Who;p Huzzah for the interwebz Ill be on the there later.

[jjpor]

:D That is the slightly weird thing about it - the implication that the FA Cup semi-final needs Doctor Who to attract viewers... (Or perhaps vice versa, but that seems very unlikely to me. :D)

[liadtbunny]

It does seem a random time to unveil a companion and we have at least half a year until we see Bill.