The honeymoon is over for Amy and Rory. “This series will see the last days of the Ponds with Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill returning for their final, rollercoaster voyage with the Doctor,” states a BBC press release. “Series 7 will then see a dramatic turn of events when the Doctor meets a new friend.”
At the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular concert, Executive Producer Steven Moffat revealed that the next companion would be “someone very different – the Doctor is going to meet someone very new in the very last place he could ever have expected…”
The last place the Doctor would expect to meet someone new is presumably inside the TARDIS. It’s certainly big enough to hide a stowaway but who or what? The description of “someone very different” suggests a non-human, and frankly it’s about time!
The Doctor has a clear preference for Earth women (like most aliens) as illustrated by above chart from notlikecalvin.com [which I’ve update to include 2 human females (Amy and River) and 1 human male (Rory)]. In fact, there haven’t been any non-human companions since Doctor Who relaunched in 2005.
The companion serves as an audience surrogate but the Doctor has become so acclimated to Earth that he is fully capable of fulfilling this role, particularly in comparison to a completely alien life form. As the resident expert on humans, the Doctor could finally convince someone that bow ties are cool.
Who do you think should be the next companion? Vote in the poll or leave a comment if you think someone or something has been left out.