Doctor Who: The Search for a “Different” Companion
By Leah Tedesco
Companions on Doctor Who are as unique as each incarnation of the Doctor. When searching for a new one, just how “different” can you get?
In a recent interview with Radio Times, Peter Capaldi continued the vague narrative about the search for Doctor Who‘s next companion.
"“We’ve just had some brief talks about it, we haven’t actually chosen someone yet — that I know of. Perhaps someone has been chosen but I would expect that I would meet them before we finalised all that.“So we’re looking for someone different,” he added with a mysterious smile, lingering on that last word…"
This begs the question, what do they mean by “different”? Different from just Clara? Different from all of the companions? Different how and to what degree? Of course, everyone is technically different from everyone else, but I am guessing that the people who work on Doctor Who are looking for a companion who drastically breaks the mould of any companion seen before. This leaves the possibilities virtually endless.
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Peter Capaldi has expressed that he does not want a male companion, but I find his reasoning to be unsound. It is likely that his wishes will be respected, but there is a chance that a male may be chosen. Male companions have been in the minority over the decades, so that would be a departure from the norm right there. We could have had Danny Pink, but his potential was squandered. I was also hoping that Rigsy would team up with the Doctor long term, but he has a child to raise now.
Another thing to consider is that there are not just two genders or sexes (which are two different things), so the prospects go beyond the simple cisgender male/female dichotomy. Also, just because we have made certain assumptions about these aspects of past companions, does not mean that there is not more to them than meets the cisnormative and eye. The same goes sexual orientation and heteronormativity/homonormativity. There have already been companions and other characters who have challenged such assumptions, but there are certainly more nuances of such matters to explore. While representation of such underrepresented demographics is vitally important, these traits, however, do not necessarily major differences in character make, just as it would not necessarily with a female Doctor. It really comes down to personality.
Personality is often greatly influenced by where and when one lives. Maybe the new companion will come from a different location or time period than we are used to (mostly contemporary UK). Vicki, for example, while originally from New London, is from the twenty fifth century, and moved to the planet of Astra at the age of eleven. Or could we get another long-awaited non-human companion? They have also been quite the minority, and being non-human is more likely to create significant differences in personality — and the way that other characters react to the companion (even for superficial reasons) — than variations in previous examples of traits. Whether made of flesh and blood, or metal, a return to this general character type could make for some major changes to the feel of the show, as well as create the potential for new kinds of adventures.
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Next: Doctor Who: What Sort of Doctor Will Chibnall Choose?
What sort of companion do you think we will see next? What sort of companion would you like to see? Let us know in the comments.