The news, which has long been anticipated by
Doctor Who fans, was announced via the
Doctor Who Official Twitter feed this morning, and follows an announcement last night, at the British Film Institute, by the
Doctor Who’s showrunner, Steven Moffat, that they had chosen Karen Gillan’s successor.
Previously,
Jenna-Louise Coleman, 25, played a gay woman, Jasmine Thomas, in the ITV soap opera
Emmerdale. From this Sunday, she will also be seen in the ITV drama series
Titanic, which has been written by the creator of
Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes.
Of her new role,
Coleman told the BBC: “Matt Smith did my audition with me. It was fun and I felt like we were in it together. I want to get started already. I’m a huge fan of the show.”
According to the
Doctor Who News Page, “[Coleman ] joins the show in the sixth episode this year, [which is] due to be shown at Christmas.” The sixth episode will be the Christmas special, traditionally broadcast on Christmas Day itself. The remaining eight episodes of Smith’s third series will then be broadcast early in 2013.
Coleman joins a very long list of female actors to have played
Doctor Who companions, which includes the very first, Carole Ann Ford (Susan, the Doctor’s granddaughter),
the late Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane Smith), Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) and Katie Manning (Jo Grant).
Male actors to have travelled with the Doctor include William Russell (Ian Chesterton), Matthew Waterhouse (Adric), John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) and Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith).
To date, three of the Doctor’s companions have gone on to star in their own spin-off series – Captain Jack in
Torchwood, Sarah Jane in
The Sarah Jane Adventures and K9 – the robot-dog companion introduced in 1977 – in
K9.
Sarah Jane and K9 also appeared together in 1981, in
A Girl's Best Friend – the pilot story for a proposed spin-off series,
K9 & Company.
