doct or who

One-on-one with the Doctor’s new companion.

While tabloids dredge up familiar names trying to second guess who Peter Capaldi will soon regenerate into, another change awaits

Doctor Who. After Jenna Coleman’s departure, the Tardis welcomes a new companion for Series 10: Pearl Mackie, whose sparky interview mode suggests she’ll bring several breaths of fresh air with her.

Taking a break from filming the series’ (original design!) Cybermen-studded finale, Mackie pitches her down-to-earth character Bill as a boarding point for Who newbies. “She’s very new, and different to the other companions. And because she’s so new, you see things from her perspective. You go into the Tardis for the first time with her.”

The Brixton-born Mackie, whose credits include Britpop film Svengali and theatre’s The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The NightTime, certainly related to Bill fast. Auditions were hush-hush: Mackie “felt like a spy” reporting to a hotel under an alias for a show codenamed Mean Town (an anagram for ‘woman ten’). She also felt she had no hope – until she read Steven Moffat’s script. “I was like, oh – I think I know this girl. Steven had created a very rounded, nuanced, real human. I got her and I understood where she was coming from. She was already there – it didn’t need me to do anything to it.”

Once Mackie was signed up, Capaldi asked her to call him should she ever feel overwhelmed by the job. Yet shooting a series featuring Matt Lucas’ Nardole, Michelle Gomez’s Missy, Ice Warriors and different worlds every other week left Mackie overwhelmed in the best sense.

“I remember coming on to this huge set one day, and feeling completely humbled and overwhelmed in a magical way. It suddenly dawned on me how immense this project is – I felt really lucky to be there.” Given that Doctor Who runs on regular re-injections of life, it sounds like the Who- niverse struck lucky to get Mackie too.

ETA | 15 APRIL / DOCTOR WHO SERIES 10 STARTS ON BBC ONE THIS MONTH.