What about the new companion?

[The Wormhole]

This isn't necessarily a speculation thread about who the new companion will be, though I have no objection to anyone posting speculation or even potential news on the matter here. Rather, I'm interested in everyone's thoughts on which direction they will go this time. Will we continue to have a female companion, making the show's main cast 100% female? Or will we now have a male companion in the interests of keeping a male/female dynamic? Or, my preference, will they have another TARDIS team consisting of a male and female traveling with the Doctor?

What thoughts do you all have on this matter?

 

[publiusr]

Keeping a bumbling Nardole would have been perfect.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

I hope we get another two-person team. Those have always been among my favorite dynamics, whether it's Jamie and Zoe, the UNIT team, Leela and K-9, Romana and K-9, Amy and Rory, or any combination of Tegan, Nyssa, Adric, and Turlough. Solo is good, too, (Leela, Romana, Ace, Donna), but aside from Amy and Rory and now Bill and Nardole, we haven't got much of that since the show has returned. Jack and Mickey didn't stick around long enough to really get that sense during their runs.

 

[StCoop]

I have a feeling they'll go for two and probably make them a couple as well. Maybe two guys just to really piss the haters off...

 

[publiusr]

I can do a really good idiot....

 

[Reverend]

I'm of two minds about this. On the one hand it'd be fun to flip the dynamic and have a male companion, but on the other it would tacitly confirm that the Doctor was intentionally favouring companions of the opposite sex, which just seems creepy somehow. (I've always had the notion in the back of my head that he's subconsciously always trying to replace Susan in some form.)

Also, part of me would like to see an all woman Tardis crew, just to see how the dynamic would work out. I mean the Doctor is still the Doctor after all.

Side note: it'll probably never come up, but if the 13th Doctor ever runs into Susan, would she still call her "grandfather"? Somehow I get the sense that Gallifreyan pronouns don't all directly translate into English.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Sisko still called Jadzia and Ezri "old man".

I don't see why she wouldn't?
We can savely assume sexuality works roughly the same with Time Lords, so he fathered a child at some point (male or female) who then had Susan eventually.
No matter what she is now she had the biological function of a grandfather.
She wouldn't be her grandmother because she was never pregnant with her mother or father.

 

[captainkirk]

If they'd had an all male cast at some point there would have been a lot of criticism, and rightly so. If they only have one companion in my opinion it should be a man to provide some balance.

 

[Starkers]

Four/Adric
Ten/Wilf

I like the idea of a Tardis team, but if they just go with one companion there's no reason it specifically has to be either male or female. Create a part that could be played by anyone with some minor tweaking and have an open casting call, see who fits the part best, and who Jodie can spark off.

 

[captainkirk]

I'd like to see someone older. A more jaded companion who the Doctor decides needs to see the wonders of the universe.

 

[UncleRogi]

Wonder what folk would think if Bill and Heather had a few adventures with 13 to kick things
off. Heather did say that they could take true human form. "....it's just an arrangement of atoms."

And Bill asked Heather if they could be back for tea...

 

[Ithekro]

Depends on what is considered needed for the show. Does the story need someone to provide muscle like say Jamie or Steven did back in the Second and First Doctor eras? Do the want someone who can pull off being as smart as the Doctor like Zoe or Romama? Do they want someone that is there to be the eye of the audience like with Jo Grant or Sarah Jane? So they want a screamer like Victoria? Do they want a love interest (wanted or not) like Rose or Martha? Do they want the companion to be the one doing plot stuff like Amy or Clara? Do they want someone that can one up the Doctor like River Song, Zoe, or Clara? Do they want someone that needs to learn from the Doctor like Leela or Susan?

 

[Jedman67]

Four/Adric
Ten/Wilf

I like the idea of a Tardis team, but if they just go with one companion there's no reason it specifically has to be either male or female. Create a part that could be played by anyone with some minor tweaking and have an open casting call, see who fits the part best, and who Jodie can spark off.

Wilf as the primary companion would be awesome.
I don't know if Cribbins would be up to playing the part on a weekly basis at his age, but it'd break the bank if he came back as a regular.
That said, i'd like a male/female team but not a couple.

 

[The Doctor]

I'd love to see Bill again. She was way too great for a one and done.

Other than that, I think a couple of companions would be great. It was fun with Amy/Rory and Bill/Nardole.

It'd also be fun if we saw Captain Jack again.

 

[Tom]

We need to have Captain Jack for at least one episode, his reactions to a female Doctor would be priceless.

 

[Jax]

I think a couple would work best alongside the new Doctor before going the route of a solo guy with a female Doctor to mirror the norm of Male Doctor/Female companion.

 

[Kemaiku]

A 9 limbed reptilian with an Australian accent, Edwardian fashion sense and about 15 PhD's.

Or a random human who goes "whoa" a lot and exists for exposition and humour like the 200 before them.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

We need to have Captain Jack for at least one episode, his reactions to a female Doctor would be priceless.

Both him and River. Hell, I'm still waiting for a River and Jack meeting.

A 9 limbed reptilian with an Australian accent, Edwardian fashion sense and about 15 PhD's.

Or a random human who goes "whoa" a lot and exists for exposition and humour like the 200 before them.

*sigh*

This is my biggest complaint with the new series (once it finally had regular non-Earth visits). Some of my favorite companions have been non-contemporary (Leela, Jamie, Zoe) or alien (Romana, Turlough, Nyssa) and I would like to see more of that. Nothing inherently wrong with contemporary (The Brigadier, Tegan, Ace, Donna, Amy, Rory are all fantastic), but we definitely need some variety.

 

[Kemaiku]

It was more of a joke, but I would like to see more non-human companions, or someone how is used to some level of traveling with no prophetic connection to the Doctor.

 

[Burning Hearts of Qo'nos]

I'm hoping for a pair of companions, male and female. Not as a couple, but could develop into a couple as the season goes along. I think having a second companion takes some of the pressure off the Doctor having to adventure directly with his companion at all times. Bill and Nardole as a team separate from the Doctor but moving towards the same end-game was a lot of fun and seriously was not used enough in my opinion. This dynamic could give the new Doctor a good amount of solo time as we get to know her. I'm also a sucker for some romance, so pairing them up over time would satisfy that and keep any lovey-dovey stuff away from the Doctor herself.

I think starting right off the bat with the Doctor having a single male companion to continue the male/female tradition would be too easy (albeit different) from a storytelling standpoint. It has the potential of turning into, 'Now its a guy that has a crush on her! What sort of hilarious mishaps and misunderstandings can come from this!' This is a worse case scenario mind you.. I doubt the new team will fall into something so predictable so fast, but you never know.

I'd like a chance to see how she works with both a male and a female, and how they would act off of her. I would also like them to both be full-fledged companions, as oppose to Amy the primary and Rory the secondary (I personally always consider him a side character, as he is defined by his relationship to Amy as oppose to his relationship to the Doctor). That could lead into a companion team leaving the Doctor at the end of the season as their own choice, something that doesn't happen enough. But at the same time, I wouldn't mind seeing a solo female or maybe a pair of female companions, because an all-female Tardis team does sound awesome.