The next companion should be...

[Starkers]

Why don't people like Craig?

From what i gathered it's more a problem with the actor who seems to be everywhere on british tv.

He's England's version of Jack Black.

James Corden also got into a confrontation with Patrick Stewart

Neither man's finest hour, Stewart was being a drunken idiot but Corden missed his chance to be the bigger man and defuse the situation.

They've made up since then though

http://youtu.be/rFtVqXyOYI4

 

[VDCNI]

I don't mind Corden. I managed to avoid most of the period when he was hyped up and on TV all the time so I've only ever seen him on Who and on stage. Liked him on Who, he was good in one of the smaller parts in The History Boys and he is excellent in One Man, Two Guvners and since he is taking that to Broadway he won't have the chance to be on Who again anytime soon.

 

[23skidoo]

Re: the companions always being human. Sorry, but that's a ground rule that was established from Day 1 (in fact - someone feel free to correct me - I think it's even spelled out in the original series bible. And I'm talking about the one from 1963). It's part of the formula. K-9 would never have worked as a solo companion, and even if the prop had worked, Kamelion would have only served as a compliment for the other human characters.

Nope. Nonhuman but humanoid companions include Susan (Gallifreyan), Romana (Gallifreyan), Adric (Terradonian born on Alzarius), Nyssa (Trakenite), and Turlough (Trion). The Fourth Doctor was without a human companion for three whole seasons, between Leela's departure at the end of season 15 and Tegan's joining at the end of season 18. And since Leela wasn't from Earth but from a lost human colony in the future, the Doctor went over four and a half seasons without an Earthborn companion.

I tend to forget about Susan being Time Lord, so my bad there (and I had mentioned Romana). As for the others listed, they were still human - it doesn't matter if Earthborn or not. Gallifreyans have 2 hearts and a host of well-chronicled physical differences to humans (regeneration being #1). At no point in any of the stories featuring Adric, Nyssa and Turlough was it ever indicated that they were anything other than homo sapiens (Adric and Nyssa being smarter than average doesn't count either). And all were quite adept at adapting to modern-day Earth. The course of the conversation is about why the show doesn't use obviously non-human companions - the way Star Trek features, say, Klingons and Vulcans as Starfleet officers. Or shape-shifting Penguins as the case is with the DWM comic strip.

Re: Craig/James Corden as a companion. Problem with that is he's tied down and unable to travel because of the baby. Now if they push things forward a few years and have Craig, his wife and their son who is now, say, a teenager travel, that would be rather cool and recapture some of the Ian-Barbara-Susan dynamic of the early days. It's too bad there would be so much negativity over James Corden being cast though (another example, previously seen with Catherine Tate) of an actor who, for whatever reason, is strongly disliked in the UK - at least before their Doctor Who involvement - but for viewers outside the UK the person is a complete unknown and can be judged more fairly based upon their current work. I think Corden's great, and that thing with Stewart is water under the bridge and made for a fantastic comedy skit with the two later on. I haven't a clue about anything else he's done, nor do I care - if Craig comes back in Series 7, or if they do make him a companion, I'd be fine with that.

Alex

 

[Starkers]

It works the other way, sure I've seen US viewers moan about certain actors who we Brits take on their own merits.

 

[VDCNI]

I tend to forget about Susan being Time Lord, so my bad there (and I had mentioned Romana). As for the others listed, they were still human - it doesn't matter if Earthborn or not. Gallifreyans have 2 hearts and a host of well-chronicled physical differences to humans (regeneration being #1). At no point in any of the stories featuring Adric, Nyssa and Turlough was it ever indicated that they were anything other than homo sapiens (Adric and Nyssa being smarter than average doesn't count either). And all were quite adept at adapting to modern-day Earth. The course of the conversation is about why the show doesn't use obviously non-human companions - the way Star Trek features, say, Klingons and Vulcans as Starfleet officers. Or shape-shifting Penguins as the case is with the DWM comic strip.

Alex

Well mainly because old Who hardly ever used Star Trek type aliens in the first place - they had monsters who looked non human and then pretty much all other aliens looked human (The Leisure Hive being one obvious exception) hence why previous alien companions don't come over as obviously alien - though the show never tried to cover up that they were aliens even if it never made a big deal of it either.

 

[Stevil2001]

I tend to forget about Susan being Time Lord, so my bad there (and I had mentioned Romana). As for the others listed, they were still human - it doesn't matter if Earthborn or not. Gallifreyans have 2 hearts and a host of well-chronicled physical differences to humans (regeneration being #1). At no point in any of the stories featuring Adric, Nyssa and Turlough was it ever indicated that they were anything other than homo sapiens (Adric and Nyssa being smarter than average doesn't count either).

Other than the entire plot of Full Circle hinging on a revelation that Adric's people are actually Marshmen. Or Nyssa's telepathy in Time-Flight. None of the three are human.

 

[StCoop]

I'm starting to feel the urge to put a tenner on Miranda Hart getting the job...

 

[Christopher]

I tend to forget about Susan being Time Lord, so my bad there (and I had mentioned Romana).

Susan and Romana were Time Ladies, not Time Lords. It's a title of the nobility of Gallifrey, not a species name.

As for the others listed, they were still human - it doesn't matter if Earthborn or not.

No, they weren't! Leela was, but Adric, Nyssa, and Turlough were defined as aliens, regardless of their anatomy. Adric wasn't even from our universe. And Nyssa and Turlough were both born on alien worlds that were technologically advanced in the 1980s, so they cannot possibly have been the descendants of human colonists as Leela was.

The course of the conversation is about why the show doesn't use obviously non-human companions - the way Star Trek features, say, Klingons and Vulcans as Starfleet officers. Or shape-shifting Penguins as the case is with the DWM comic strip.

Since when? I've just reviewed all the posts in this thread between YellowSubmarine's initial broaching of the subject ("Humans would think that the next companion must be a human, how typical!") and the present, and nobody (until now) has defined the question in terms of "human in appearance" versus "nonhumanoid." Yes, there was a passing reference to Frobisher the penguin, but that was before the current subtopic arose so I don't see it as part of the same discussion. We're only discussing human companions versus alien ones, and Doctor Who has always been loaded with aliens who are indistinguishable from humans.

 

[Starkers]

I'm starting to feel the urge to put a tenner on Miranda Hart getting the job...

Well I notice she's doing some straight acting by the looks of it in the upcoming Midwives series on the Beeb. That said I expect the next companion to be a relative unknown ala Karen.

 

[Redfern]

I'm just being a bit silly and utterly fan-wanky, but how about one of Branigan's daughters after she's matured?

Doesn't ring a bell? Maybe the title of the episode will jog a few memories..."Gridlock".

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[captcalhoun]

whilst that would be cool, you'd need an actress willing to go through 4-5 hours of prostethic make up every shooting day and at all hours of the day for what ever mad shoot times they have.

 

[RoJoHen]

whilst that would be cool, you'd need an actress willing to go through 4-5 hours of prostethic make up every shooting day and at all hours of the day for what ever mad shoot times they have.

People have been doing it on Star Trek for years.

 

[captcalhoun]

yeah, but that's American TV. we're talking about British TV. that's different.

 

[Redfern]

Hence my caveat at the beginning of my suggestion. Plus, in story, how would you explain a cat girl walking around 21st century London, or earlier eras for that matter? The ol' perception filter business?

Which reminds me of another "silly" idea. Someone mentioned a relunctant Dalek. How 'bout a "willing" Dalek...say the "reformed" Dalek Caan? Actually, just keep him within the TARDIS, giggling and gibbering his mad poems, occasionally having brief moments of lucidity and providing the Doctor with some "insight". And, as a throw-away gag, have him decide he wants to join the Doctor outside the TARDIS. To prevent the "natives" from freaking over a Dalek, he thinks he can "slip under the radar" by covering his travel machine with hundreds of sheets of "psychic paper". If nothing else, it'd result in a true "spit take" scene!

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[VDCNI]

Given how often they talk about the insane schedule of Who I doubt they'll be using extensive prosthetics for one of the regulars anytime soon.

Money would be a major issue and in Trek they aren't required to be on screen 90% of the time in every episode of a series.

 

[CaptainMatt]

Maybe we could finally get a NuWho companion not from 21st-century Earth?
I miss the days of non-Earther companions.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I would like the next companion to be someone from the Victorian era who is steadfast in her ways and not all that impressed with the Doctor and various advanced technologies.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

A form of the Master was a companion in the "Scream of the Shalka" web animations. They never really explained HOW it happened, but the Doctor had somehow put the essence of the Master into a robot body that could not leave the TARDIS, and apparently put limitations that would keep the Master from killing him (though it didn't stop him from trying thorugh omision of action). Something like that could be cool.

My other pipe dream would be for the Doctor to start the new companion by already HAVING a mysterious young woman by the name of "Rommy", who despite her age would be a match for the Doctor's wit or even intelligence. Over the first year, she would slowly come to learn that she isn't a hip and modern girl from 21st century England, but a Time Lady from the Doctor's past... Hilarity ensues as she figures out how she REALLY came to be with the Doctor and his role in why she can't remember anything...

Mark

 

[Sindatur]

On the Shalka Master, I figured he was the Master from the McGann Movie, having his "essence" "scooped" up and bottled inside the Android. But, yea, that would be quite fun.

I like your Romana idea too, but, for me to really enjoy it, it would have to take the McGann/Romana and the Gallifrey Adventures Audio Plays into account in it's backstory (IE: Any conflicts those stories present would have to be "technobabbled away")

 

[Mr. Adventure]

A form of the Master was a companion in the "Scream of the Shalka" web animations. They never really explained HOW it happened, but the Doctor had somehow put the essence of the Master into a robot body that could not leave the TARDIS, and apparently put limitations that would keep the Master from killing him (though it didn't stop him from trying thorugh omision of action). Something like that could be cool.

I might have to check that out, that's kind of like my idea about the reluctant Dalek. I was thinking along the lines of Spike(Buffy) with the inhibitor chip where he wasn't really trustworthy and his weakness would sometimes lull the protagonists into forgetting his real nature.