Oct 10, 2008 06:30 AM
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British actress Velile Tshabalala has been talking about her next role, which just so happens to be as the next companion in Doctor Who's 2008 Christmas Special. But listening to her explain her character seemed oddly familiar - and gave us one more reason not to miss outgoing producer Russell T Davies. Be warned: there are spoilers ahead.
Tshabalala describes Rosita, her character in "The Next Doctor" in such a way as to give us a feeling of deja vu:
I have to be very careful what I can say and can't say about it all. You have to bear with me! But she is an East Londoner, very Cockney... The Doctor is faced with another Doctor. Rosita is the assistant to the other Doctor but as the episode goes on she starts helping the Doctor we know.
So... a "very Cockney" female companion - like Rose... and Martha... and Donna -who starts off initially uncertain of the Doctor but soon comes around to help him save the day. Like Rose. And Martha. And Donna. I'd lay money that Rosita starts off seeming like an average everyday human but is soon revealed to (a) love the Doctor, (b) have the cosmic key to the mystery hidden inside her mind, or (c) both of the above before the end of the episode, as well.
Now, Doctor Who shoots in Wales, so we know for sure that Davies is aware of the existence of other parts of Britain that aren't London... Obviously, there must be another reason for the fact that all of his choices for companions have all come from the same city... and shared similar character arcs. It's just that we can't quite figure out what it is yet.
(Obviously, the fact that all four are also women is more easily explainable by the traditional Doctor Who rule of "there has to be something for the dads to look at, as well," especially considering the now legendary swoonworthiness of David Tennant's Doctor. But even so; would it have killed Davies to make the companion male just once? And, no, Mickey really doesn't count. He's also a Cockney, by the way.)
It's laziness - okay, let's be kind and call them "coincidences" - like this that make us okay with Davies moving on at the end of 2009, if for no other reason than the fact that Eastenders may want to keep the chirpy Cockney TV characters to themselves for awhile, thank you very much.
Who's that girl? New assistant for the Doctor lands in West Sussex [West Sussex Times]
Send an email to Graeme McMillan, the author of this post, at graeme@io9.com.
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