Yesterday in the middle of Match of the Day on BBC One, we got the announcement of who The Doctor’s new companion will be. As is traditional with these things, it’s someone that wasn’t on anyone’s list until very late on in the process. Meet Bill, as played by Pearl Mackie.
Pearl graduated from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2010 and is currently performing in the National Theatre’s West End production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. Up until now, she has primarily been a theatre actress, with her only screen credits being on an episode of (appropriately) Doctors, and the Martin Freeman movie ‘Svengali’. She’s join the show in the 10th season when it returns next year (if you exclude this year’s Christmas Special). This will also be showrunner Steven Moffat’s final season before Broadchurch’s Chris Chibnall takes over in 2018.
As you can see from the video above, her new character Bill is a fun, feisty, and somewhat cheeky sidekick by the looks of things, and seems to be an excellent partner to Peter Capaldi’s Time Lord. She’s quoted as saying “I’m incredibly excited to be joining the Doctor Who family. It’s such an extraordinary British institution, I couldn’t be prouder to call the Tardis my home.” Her new Doctor also seems rather happy with his new partner in space & time travel saying “It is a genuine delight to welcome Pearl Mackie to Doctor Who. A fine, fine actress with a wonderful zest and charm, she’s a refreshing addition to the Tardis and will bring a universe of exciting new possibilities to The Doctor’s adventures.”
Doctor Who will return to our screen this Christmas, but we’re not expecting to see Bill till the 10th season airs in 2017. Then again, when Moffat is involved, it wouldn’t surprise us too much if she were to pop up at some point in the Christmas Special – Remember the introduction of Jenna Colman’s Clara Oswald?… We’ll just have to wait and see…
Here’s a video of Pearl talking about getting the role.
