Doctor Who actress Jenna Coleman has revealed that she thinks her new co-star Samuel Anderson will be “really popular in the show”.

The BBC announced in February that Anderson was joining the cast as new recurring character Danny Pink, a teacher at Coal Hill School where companion Clara Oswald (Coleman) also teaches.

The former Emmerdale actor makes his debut in the second episode of Series 8, described by showrunner Steven Moffat as “a gritty Dalek adventure”.

Coleman told the official Doctor Who website: “Clara meets a man called Danny Pink – a teacher – who’s charming and lovely. He’s that perfect boyfriend really and is very supportive, but he doesn’t know anything about this double life she lives. She tries to hide it from him whilst at the same time falling in love.”

She explained: “She becomes very torn between the two. It’s almost as if she’s having an affair, without having an affair, but the lying becomes more and more. Basically she’s trying to manage the two, and have these two men in her life. It becomes quite a hurtful thing and quite a hard thing for her because she’s totally torn between the two, and trying to have both at once without being able to do it successfully.”

The actress also discussed how she’s found working with Anderson: “It’s been great. He’s a dream. I think he’s going to be really popular in the show. He’s very laid back, very cool and collected, and he plays the trumpet in-between takes as well on set! He’s lovely.”

She added: “I do feel sorry for his character though, as he’s got this girlfriend who is completely stressed every time she appears after coming back from being with the Doctor.”

Series 8 begins on Saturday 23 August on BBC One with ‘Deep Breath’.

> Here’s everything we know so far about Series 8.

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