A new companion has begun his or her journey with the Doctor in the upcoming season of "Doctor Who," which has begun filming. Peter Capaldi, the 12th and current Doctor, confirmed he has begun work with his new co-star, who replaces the Doctor's former companion, Clara Oswald, played by Jenna Coleman.
An official casting announcement is imminent, but details from Capaldi reveal a much different companion than Clara or previous companions to past Doctors. This companion "knows very little about the Doctor," unlike Clara who had previously traveled alongside the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith).
"There will be a new companion along any minute," Capaldi said, "And I'm excited because obviously I know who that is and we've doing a bit of work together already and it's very exciting... it's a very different sort of take on it."
In describing the Doctor's new companion, Capaldi added, "Clara had a previous Doctor knowledge. It was conceived as a human connected to your timeline, and therefore had access to the cosmic nature Doctor. She understood a little about how he was. And as she was already with Matt, she knew the Daleks and the TARDIS. Now we have someone who knows very little about the Doctor."
The tenth season of "Doctor Who" will premiere in spring 2017. It's unknown whether this new companion will join the Doctor in the Christmas Day special this year.
While a new companion joins the long-running British series, Capaldi has yet to decide if he will continue with the show after season 10. The BBC has asked him to extend his stay as the Doctor, but the 57-year-old actor is taking his time with a response.
"I've been asked to stay on," Capaldi said, "But it's such a long time before I have to make a decision."
The upcoming season will mark the end of Steven Moffatt's involvement with "Doctor Who." Moffatt joined the show in 2005 and succeeded Russell T. Davies as showrunner in 2010. He was responsible for introducing the 11th and 12th Doctors played by Smith and Capaldi.
Chris Chibnall, the creator of "Broadchurch," will take over for Moffatt.
"Feels odd to be talking about leaving when I'm just starting work on the scripts for season 10, but the fact is my timey-wimey is running out," Moffatt said at the time of the announcement. "While Chris is doing his last run of Broadchurch, I'll be finishing up on the best job in the universe and keeping the TARDIS warm for him. It took a lot of gin and tonic to talk him into this, but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British Television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future."
