Standing out amongst the myriad good points of 2003's web-broadcasted Scream of the Shalka was Sophie Okonedo's character of barmaid Alison Cheney. Sophie's name is already familiar to fans of Matt Smith's Doctor because she played future British monarch Liz X, first seen in Series 5's The Beast Below. Alison Cheny hailed from the Lancashire village of Lannet bringing a much needed grounded-in-reality quality to the story. In the revived series, Rose is the only other truly working class female character who has so far teamed up with the Doctor. To help break the current trend of white middle-class companions, perhaps the time has come to consider having Alison or a character very much like her cross the Doctor's path. Not all of the Doctor's friends should have steady well-paying jobs or live in comfortable surrounding - even Donna the temp lived in a nice semi-detached and had her family to help out. A character like Alison would perhaps be more identifiable to much of the audience and could bring many of the struggles and challenges faced by viewers to the screen.