back to article Beeb names new Who companion

The BBC has announced that 21-year-old Karen Gillan will be Matt Smith's new companion for his first outing in Doctor Who, scheduled to hit the small screen next year. Karen Gillan. Pic: BBC Gillan (pictured) previously appeared as a soothsayer in The Fires Of Pompeii. The Inverness lass enthused in traditional Doctor Who …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Modern Doctor Who is rubbish

    I hope she's getting in plenty of practice on the chav accent which for some reason has apparently become obligatory for the solitary female companion that the Doctor must seemingly always have nowadays.

  2. Mal Franks
    Thumb Up

    Good choice...

    and before anyone wibbles about her being too young - Sarah Sutton (Nyssa - 4th/5th Doctor's companion) & Deborah Watling (Victoria - 2nd Doctor) were 19 and Wendy Padbury (Zoe - 2nd Doctor) was 21 when they became companions

  3. Bod

    Twilight

    Looking like it's got all the elements to hit the Twilight teen/tween audience then. Young Emo Doc plus suitably young attractive romantic interest.

    Will keep the generation of kids who are growing into teens interested, but it'll alienate the parents who either lusted after the lead and/or companion or were nostalgic about the old days.

    But... will wait and see.

  4. David
    Thumb Down

    Grrrr

    Final proof (if ever more were needed) that the next series is going to be Dr Who 90210. Steven "Unhealthy fetish for bananas" Mofatt will be unable to resist slipping back to his sitcom roots. Bad, bad choice. They needed an older companion to balance out the younger Doctor, and ideally they should've been a guy, so there was no temptation to play on the romance potential, as they seem to have been doing quite a lot recently

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    (untitled)

    "I am absolutely over the moon"

    I'm sure she intended that... but surely she'll remain (relatively) grounded while her character will travel way beyond the moon???

  6. Ralph B
    Thumb Up

    Hmm. Nice

    "And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too."

    I think there's a preposition missing towards the end of that sentence.

  7. Richard

    2 out of 4

    That means two out of four of the Doc's assistants will have been something other than complete chavvy scum. Excellent.

  8. Luis Ogando
    Coat

    Ugh!!

    "funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy. Or Scottish, which is the quick way of saying it."

    So, he has the same feelings for Gordon Brown, does he....?

    Mines the one with the sickbag in the pocket...

  9. Greg

    Better than Catherine Tate

    God, I hate the new Dr Who. But this lassie might be my first actual reason to watch it. Maybe. If I'm ill sometime.

  10. ffrankmccaffery

    who cares

    but only the sad sacks who obsess over this infantile program

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    Misquote

    It should have been

    "He concluded: "A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want to be in her too"

  12. Neil
    Thumb Up

    Finally..

    A good looking companion. Hopefully this one won't be a gobby chav.

  13. supermeerkat
    Stop

    Bah!

    I don't hold with this new fangled Doctor Who with, young sexy people in it. I want mature gentlemen who a lived an interesting life playing the Doctor. I don't want wan looking waifs as assistants / romantic interest for the Doctor. Why would the Doctor start fancying humans anu

    Grumble grumble. Bring back Tom Baker and Sarah Jane.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Ginge!

    Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmmm, tasty

    With her and Russell T Davies no longer writing it might actually be worth watching again.

  16. Uncle Slacky Silver badge

    Age gap

    It must be getting difficult to find companions younger than the Doctor (without infringing child labour laws, that is).

  17. Law
    Boffin

    Steven Moffat.....

    ... is now officially called Creepy Steve.... get a grip man, it's called being 21!

    The stalker-steve icon.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Ginger Nut

    I do hope the new Doctor Who played by Matt Smith gets the chance to find out if the carpet matches the curtains...

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    And boys

    Given the number of trannies called Sarah Jane, if they play their cards right, there'll be a generation of little boys who want to be be her, too!

  20. Andy
    Stop

    Creepiest quote ever?

    (from Mr. Moffat). Sounds like he shouldn't be allowed near playgrounds...

  21. blackworx
    Heart

    Helllllo nurse!

    Glad to see they're back on the eye-candy wagon

  22. Rachel Greenham

    is it just my naughty mind...

    ... that omitted the 'them' from the last sentence when I first read it. :-D

  23. NogginTheNog
    Thumb Down

    Out past their bed time?

    How bloody young is she?? Paired up with the new Doc, I just hope they find an adult each week to accompany them out in the Tardis...

    I mean I know it's always been sort of a kids/adult crossover show, but does it have to take the cast down into Grange Hill age territory?!

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Horns

    Cliques

    Aye, as sure as Dr Who was a Welsh club under Davies, it's clear it's now destined to become a Scots club under MacMoffat.

    Expect every guest star to be Scots and a new set of alien races who wear tartans. And the new theme tune'll probably be played on the bagpipes. I can hear it now.... Hnnnnnnnngggggggggggg.....

  25. Mage Silver badge
    Alien

    Bah Humbug

    Russell Davies polluted it for me.

  26. Inachu
    Flame

    No no no no no no no!!!!!!

    I mean I like the new assistant as she is very sexy and pretty but.......

    It seems I can get most all channels on my comcast tv subscription but every channel I have checked does not carry Dr. Who!!!!!!!!! Grrrrr!!!! eitehr that or PBS has made Dr. Who come on very late?

    I am so confused .

    It used to be Dr. Who came on at 9pm or 10pm EST in USA.

    I have now missed out on over 7 years of Dr. Who and wished the Dr. would show up on Hulu so bad!

  27. Warhelmet

    DOK-TOR!

    My main concern is that bloated self-congratulatory twonk Russell T. Davis (whatever) and his celeb mates are out. And something for the dads, of course.

  28. Camilla Smythe

    Eeeeeeeee When I wert Child

    Dr Who and the maggots was back of the sofa stuff before Mum served up toast and dripping with the opportunity for Bovril.

    Kids these days don't know they have been born.

    "I say, Substitute Doctor, Do these CGI Aliens make my bum look big in this?"

    "What Ho!!!! I'll just Switch on My Thing and Zapp Them with the Blu LEDz stuff."

    "Gosh! Earth Saved again!!!!!"

    CUT!!!!!

    That's a take.

    'Bitch!'

    'Well it's not as if you are Pewtree.'

    'Oh, like sure Lena?'

    'Bastard Bald Osmond!'

    "Hai. I am like from makeup and need to put these green spotz on yu. Green spotz have no artifecal bitz and other things plus hav nuffink to do with experiments in maggot vomit. Plzzz ignore headpipes and sign here.

    KthnxBai.... purrrr"

  29. Mithvetr

    Old Fans Never Die...

    The shame is that they got the whole Doctor Who/Torchwood approaches the wrong way round. Since Doctor Who already had an established fan base in or around their 30s, I reckon they'd have done better to treat the new Who show as the 'adult' programme and aimed Torchwood at the kids.

    Mind you, even then we'd have to face up to the fact that Torchwood was more adolescent than adult: throwing in lots of gratuitous sex references (of any orientation) doesn't make an adult programme. It's a shame RTD didn't wait until after the new Battlestar Galactica showed what adult sci-fi *really* looks like. Torchwood at its best can't hold a candle to BSG at its weakest. I'd say the same for Doctor Who except it does get a little redemption from the episode 'Blink', which was frankly genius. Having the Doctor as a mysterious background character, barely seen while influencing the lives of others, made for a far more interesting story. 'The Girl in the Fireplace' was pretty good, too. But in general the new stories have been really weak - too much focus on ancillary characters and bloody Daleks. And it's a shame we never explored the Doctor's back-story more.

    Still, I do rate Eccleston and Tennant as the Doctor - I think they both did an excellent job, and without wanting to be unfair to this new guy, who hasn't actually had a go yet, I think the makers of the show went in the wrong direction. Aside from the opportunities they had to try something contentious - a black Doctor, perhaps, or a female - I think they're missing out by focusing on Young And Attractive at the expense of Mature And Interesting. (With due respect to any readers who might be young and attractive and interesting, obviously.)

    I've tried very hard to be a fan of the new Doctor Who, out of established loyalty to Tom Baker through to Sylvester McCoy; but I think when David Tennant leaves it'll be time to give up.

  30. Dave Harris

    Is it just me

    that misses Nyssa and Adric ("Well, now we'll never know", the line that had me bawling for days)

  31. The Mighty Spang
    Thumb Down

    the older assistants may have been young...

    but this girl looks about 12. What with the ugly stepchild they chose for the dr as well, may as well call it rugrats and have done with it.

    sick of this and like the new trek with these... children... apparantly saving the universe. I'm a mature student and the 50% of the spotty herberts can't even make it to a lecture on time, let alone defeat some monsterous evil.

    i suppose i'm just bitter from years ago when neighbours stopped being about adults and spent all its time with teenagers in school uniform like some kind of Gary Glitter Hour

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Oh god, not another...

    Scot.

    They're taking over the fucking world.

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    To everyone moaning about the new doctor...

    have you actually seen him act or are you just ranting cause the papers say hes the yongest ever (hes still in his 30's i beleive!)

    He was great in party animals so i think he'll do fine!

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    @Andy Towler

    Not quite - in the US their constitution protects them from having a US President not born in the US.

    However, controlling the UK (Speaker, PM, Chancellor, ex-PM) is not a bad feat; allowing them to vote on English acts of parliament (e.g. they were relied on to introduce tuition fees in the UK) while not allowing our MPs to vote on theirs (no tuition fees, free prescriptions etc.) is sufficient revenge for all the past wars between England and Scotland.

    Unlike Gordon Brown, or Alastair Darling, this Scot does look quite attractive...

  35. Doogs

    Hmm

    Liked her on the Kevin Bishop show - that bikini was quite flattering ;)

    Bring back Leela, I say! Or Ace - remember Ace?

    Ahh memories...

  36. Robert Ramsay
    Thumb Up

    I have to say...

    Matt Smith was jolly good in Ruby In The Smoke. I have high hopes. And maybe the reason the kids love Doctor Who is because they're a bit more flexible than us old fogies. Even if that doesn't excuse some of Russell Davies' incredibly lazy writing.

  37. Yorkshirepudding
    Heart

    im sure google

    will crash with requests for new doctors assistant nude searches

    i heart that ginger babe

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    @ffrankmccaffery

    Clearly you did as you clicked on it, read it, clicked on the comments, wrote your "witty" comment and then clicked post comment (having logged in as well).

    Its amazing how many people on El Reg read articles that they "have no interest in" and then take the time to comment on that fact as well!!!

    Do you spend your days Googling topics you don't like as well??

    Very very strange. Perhaps the new Doctor could investigate this strange sub-race of posters?

  39. Bod

    nude assistant

    It's only a proper nude assistant photo if she's draped around a Dalek! ;-)

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