After Jenna Coleman’s surprisingly long stint as Clara Oswald came to a close last year, the TARDIS is vacant once again.
Here are ten of our top picks to fill that empty spot in the TARDIS…
Emily Berrington
Another actress gradually building up a strong back catalogue of drama credits; what is arguably Emily Berrington’s breakout role came last year in Channel 4’s domestic sci-fi drama Humans.
Humans is definitely one of the best displays of Berrington’s talent thanks to her character Niska being a fully conscious robot who is in hiding and has passed into the ownership of a brothel. Niska’s storyline runs a lot deeper than the other characters’ since it takes the Blade Runner-esque premise but adds the fact that she is quite literally a disposable sex worker. It’s a very dark and emotional story, which Berrington handles brilliantly.
But the biggest point in Berrington’s favour is that if she can do “self-aware robot used as a sex slave” and bring such a huge amount of sincerity and emotion to it, she can easily be the Doctor’s companion.
There’s a world of difference between Humans and Doctor Who in terms of tone but they’re both science fiction, requiring an actor to bring the utmost believability to their character in stories that stretch believability.
Sophie Rundle
A regular presence on our screens over the past few years, Sophie Rundle is definitely one of British TV’s rising stars. While she hasn’t rocketed to global superstardom in an overnight hit, she has gradually built up a very respectable CV that includes starring roles in The Bletchley Circle, An Inspector Calls and Dickensian.
While getting such a steady stream of work is the mark of a good performer, the thing about Rundle that makes her stand out so much is how she can slot into so many different roles.
The colossal difference between her performances in BBC Two comedy Episodes where she plays Matt LeBlanc’s stalker and something more grounded like Peaky Blinders is astonishing. Good range is to be expected of a decent actor, but Rundle more or less completely avoids typecasting.
That kind of versatility is an incredibly desirable quality in an actor and would add a lot to Doctor Who. Particularly since, if we finally get a significant shift from the typical companion characterisation, then the actor playing them will have to really hit the ground running to sell this different take on the established dynamic.
> Buy the complete Season 9 box set on DVD on Amazon.
> Buy the complete Season 9 box set on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Who do you think would make a good companion for the Twelfth Doctor? Let us know below…