Doctor Who: The New Companion?

Hi there! After taking a break last weekend to make some guess for the 2016 Oscars, I'm back with another Doctor Who related Sunday post. So what's up with our favoritest show in the whole wide world?

From all reports I've heard, Doctor Who is scheduled to go back in front of the cameras in May. I presume the 2016 Christmas Special might be first up but in the wibbly wobbly timey wimey way of TV production, a few episodes of Series 10 might get knocked out first. Who knows?

If the Doctor Who team is ready to get going on Series 10, either before or after the 2016 Christmas special, one hopes they have a handle on who the new companion is going to be.

Earlier this week, rumors began circulating that the leading contender for role of the Doctor's companion is Rakhee Thakrar, a 32 year old actress best known for her work on the ongoing BBC drama Eastenders. As of this writing, there is no confirmation of this but as is the case with these things, there seems to be a lot of noise in the gossip echo chamber around this person.

If Rakhee Thakrar is cast, there are a few distinctive things about the choice to make note of.

She will be the first "non-white" companion since Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) who was in Series 3 back in 2007 (and returned for guest appearances in 2008). In fact, given the entirety of the series, Rakhee would be only the 2nd "non-white" companion in the history of the program.

She would also be a part of a rarified group, female companions who were cast outside their 20's. Here is the list of other actresses who were older than their 20's when they were cast as companions:

• Jacqueline Hill     (33)     Barbara Wright 
• Jean Marsh          (31)     Sara Kingdom 
• Catherine Tate     (39)     Donna Noble  

There's also the question about how long will Rakhee's character remain a companion.

• As we know, Steven Moffat is stepping down as Executive Producer and Head Writer of Doctor Who at the end of 2017 with Chris Chibnall taking over in 2018.
• As we suspect, Peter Capaldi may elect not to re-up for a fourth series as the Doctor.

 Are we looking at a clean break between Moffat and Chibnall as we had between Davies and Moffat? If so, does that limit Rakhee to only 1 year in the TARDIS? Or perhaps Chibnall may have had some say in her casting, to create a possible bridge when Moffat hands the reins over?

A lot of questions to be answered. And as most appropriate when it comes to Doctor Who, only time will tell.

Thanks for dropping by. I'll be back with another post tomorrow. Until then, remember to be good to one another.