7. A Star In The Making
One of the stars of Last Christmas was the all singing, all dancing Shona McCullough, played by Faye Marsay, who many fans have already assumed will be returning next year as the Doctor's new companion in Series 9 - and with good reason, too. She's certainly brave, bolshie and intuitive enough to take on the coveted role as she was introduced as one of the more vocal members of the scientific expedition on the North Pole. A scientist stepping aboard the TARDIS would certainly add a new intellectual level to the Doctor/companion dynamic but then Shona went and spoiled it all by doing something stupid like waking up and revealing that she actually works in a shop instead. Damn. So close. Let's not write her off just yet, though, because she's definitely equipped with all the essential qualities a Doctor Who companion should possess and it looks like she's pretty keen to inject some excitement into her mundane life, too, if her dreams are anything to go by. A shop girl who dreams she's a scientist? It'd be rude not to welcome her aboard the TARDIS, really, plus she likened the Doctor to a 'magician' which would tie in nicely with the title of Series 9's premiere episode, The Magician's Apprentice. That might've just been a throwaway line intended to fuel speculative articles such as this, though, but it's interesting to analyse it nonetheless. She'd definitely get our vote from her dance moves alone.
Dan Butler
Doctor Who Editor
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
See more from
Dan