1: Ingrid Oliver
The most obvious choice. Her appearances in both The Day Of The Doctor and Death In Heaven as UNIT scientist/cosplaying Osgood have endeared her to audiences and despite being vaporised by Missy in the latter episode, she's back for The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion or is she? It wouldn't be the first time the Doctor's travelled with a UNIT member if she joined up full time, now would it?
2: Jonathan Bailey
Popping up in last series Time Heist with the equally brilliant Pippa Bennett-Warner, it's been a while since we've had a regular male companion and given that Psi had the ability of being able to challenge the Doctor and cajole with him along with the fact that he's an augmented human, it would add a slightly different dynamic to the show. Plus Twelve did ask Psi to call him as well. Just saying.
3: Faye Marsay
Appearing in Last Christmas as the wonderfully likeable Shona, the character might have felt like a mashup of Lucie, Rose and Donna but Marsay is an incredible actress who brought a lot of warmth to Shona and her scenes with Capaldi during the Christmas 2014 special were fantastic to watch. She would definitely offer something of a contrast to Clara as well as some great dancing moves.
4: Luke Newberry
In The Flesh might have only lasted two series on BBC3 but it was long enough to certainly get people familiar with this wonderful actor who has also popped up in episodes of Sherlock and Banana. I could easily see Newberry travelling with Capaldi's Doctor as someone in awe of the latter's enigmatic Time Lord.
5: Karla Crome
The great thing about Misfits was the slew of impressive actors it had in it's five series reign and one of the best IMO was definitely Karla Crome, who played Jess in the show's fourth and fifth series. US viewers would probably know her as well from her appearance in Under The Dome's second season and when Crome isn't acting, she's also scribing plays to boot. I definitely think she has to be a serious contender for a companion role on this show.
6: Sacha Dhawan
Now here is an actor who has got some connections to Doctor Who but has yet to actually appear in the show. Sacha played Waris Hussein in An Adventure In Space And Time and has/will be appearing in some Big Finish audios. He's also had some previous genre credits with guest appearances in Being Human and In The Flesh. Oh and he's a bloody great actor to boot.
7: Charlie Murphy
It would be remiss of me to not at least include one Irish candidate into the mix for this list and I went with this particularly gifted actress. Irish viewers will know her best from her role as Siobhan Delaney in all five series of popular RTE crime drama, Love/Hate while UK viewers will definitely know her from roles in Ripper Street, The Village and Happy Valley. Also aside from the wonderful Molly in the Dark Eyes audios, isn't it time for an Irish companion in the TARDIS?
8: Robert Emms
Let's be honest here - Atlantis tried and failed to hit the highs that both Merlin and even Robin Hood managed to do and while it's axing after two series might not be the worst thing ever to happen to television, one of it's strongest assets was Emms as the often underutilised but consistently likeable Pythagoras. Now imagine him on a show where his strengths as an actor could be put to better use. He would be terrific.
9: Kate Bracken
Right now we still have a Scottish showrunner, a Scottish Doctor and a Scottish Master so maybe another Scottish companion in the mix too? On a serious note, Bracken was a revelation as Alex in the final two series of Being Human and did well enough in Misfits too. Then again, if Bracken doesn't get the gig here, then she just might if/when Toby Whithouse takes over the show.
10: Gillian Anderson
I've kept this list fairly grounded (you'll notice compared to other lists that there are some omissions here) but if I have to delve into proper fantasy casting, then I'm going with Gillian Anderson. The idea of her and Peter Capaldi sharing the screen together would be a TV match made in heaven and with Hannibal finished, The Fall finishing and The X Files being a limited run (for now), surely a series with Capaldi/Anderson would be television magic, right?
Okay now there's my list and if by some miracle any of those actors end up succeeding Coleman as the next companion with Capaldi, I will be genuinely surprised and pleased. As for whoever does get cast in the role, you already have my support.
Doctor Who starts tonight on BBC1 and BBCAmerica.
No comments:
Post a Comment