The New Doctor's Assistant: Karen Gillan

[Ursa major]

Little-known actress Karen Gillan has been unveiled as the next assistant in Doctor Who.

The 21-year-old will star alongside new Time Lord Matt Smith in the new series, to be broadcast next year.

Gillan has already appeared in the drama, having played a Soothsayer in The Fires Of Pompeii in the last run.

"I am absolutely over the moon at being chosen to play the Doctor's new companion. - I just can't wait to get started," she said.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Doctor Who assistant is unveiled
​

 

[chopper]

is it just me, or do Dr Who assistants get younger by the day?

 

[Urien]

It's not like the BBC to have younger and younger presenters and stars, it's absolutely not a discernable trend. Ageist... the BBC, never.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Doctor Who 90210 ...

Still, great to see a lass from Inverness get the part.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Ugh, another Scot....

*hides from Brian*



Never heard of her. Hope she's up to it, although, again, a bloke, or even a woman from a different era would've been nice.

And yes, I dislike the fetish of youth.

 

[PTeppic]

Since her last appearance was as a Soothsayer in "Fires of Pompeii", do we know she won't be from a different era?

 

[thaddeus6th]

PT, we can but hope. That said, if she's from Londonium I may just run to the studio and murder whoever's responsible.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

is it just me, or do Dr Who assistants get younger by the day?

Well, at least we had a break from the very young assistants with Donna -- whose tenure was far too short. And maybe before the next season is over he'll end up with two or three companions (who last for more than a few episodes) like he often did in the old days.

 

[chopper]

Team Who would be a nice return, but I think possibly less likely now - in the old series they usually had 4 episodes to stretch a story across, so the characters had a little more room to breathe. fitting a whole team into a 45-minute story might mean that some of them suffer by way of screen time.

at the same time, they have managed it in some of the recent stories, but it did seem to work best inb the 2-parters.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

More two-parters would be fine by me. I wish there were more of them, since it's not just the companions who have room to breathe, but the plot as well.

 

[PTeppic]

Well, SM is used to write for multiple characters with distinct and defined personalities, so here's hoping...

 

[thaddeus6th]

I agree that Donna was surprisingly good. Loathed the Doctor-Donna nonsense, but Tate (or is it Tait?) did a pretty good job. Freema Agyeman had an awful role, no real character at all. Nice to look at, though

 

[Ursa major]

Perhaps we'll be lucky what with Karen Gillan being the second redhead in a row.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Gah, another girl companion. And gah, even younger. It really will be teen-Who next year.

I was wondering if she'd be from a different time period, seeing as she's already been in an episode of Doctor Who. But maybe they'll do what they did with Martha, with the cousin-who-looked-remarkably-similar-to-Martha.

I'll try and reserve judgment until I've seen some episodes. At least Moffat will be in charge.

 

[PTeppic]

The downside to picking someone from earlier Earth history then "current" is that technically the Doctor has to expose even the background in any modern episodes, which he shouldn't need to do for a "current" assistant. (Er, assuming that one "exposes" when one delivers exposition... ) For me a more interesting role would be like River Soong, where she's able to dive in and help a little as well. But, we shall see.

 

[Rodders]

With the Doctor and his assistant being so young, do they run the risk of the older Who fans being alienated somewhat and deserting the show? (A younger fan base may mean the stories are not as good.)

 

[thaddeus6th]

Not so long as the scripts and the acting are up to scratch. Would be nice if they had some people a little older though.

 

[Ursa major]

When I was young, having what seemed to me to be an ancient Doctor - William Hartnell was about 55 when he first played the part - never bothered me at all. (And no doubt the scripts will continue to remind us how old the Doctor really is.)

As thad said, the important things are the stories and the way they're brought to the screen.

 

[faplad]

I think the point of having a companion from the modern era is so that the audience has someone to identify with, or at least I think I've read that that was RTDs policy. If it was decreed by RTD then maybe Moffett will have other ideas.

As for a younger audience maybe eroding the quality of the scripts I doubt we've anything to worry about there. After all, Sarah Jane has been of a pretty high quality and that was specifically aimed at the CBBC crowd. This is a bunch of writers who are out to tell good stories, regardless of their demographic.

 

[Dave]

When I was young, having what seemed to me to be an ancient Doctor - William Hartnell was about 55 when he first played the part - never bothered me at all. (And no doubt the scripts will continue to remind us how old the Doctor really is.)

As thad said, the important things are the stories and the way they're brought to the screen.

Am I alone in thinking for a few brief seconds last year that David Tennant might have left with Donna's grandfather (Bernard Cribbins)? I wonder what that might have been like?

I think that the male Doctor and younger female companion is the one that has proved to work most successfully. It has become the accepted norm.