What Whovian hasn’t fantasized about travelling through space and time alongside a “mad man with a box?” If you’re Steven Moffat, however, there are certain requirements to be had before you can even be considered to be a companion to the Time Lord from Gallifrey.

In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Moffat teased the readers about the newest companion, Jenna-Louise Coleman, who will board the TARDIS after the “heartbreaking” departure of The Ponds. At the time that Coleman was announced in March, she had stated that she knew what her introduction was and that viewers should expect the unexpected. “It sounds really interesting, really exciting,“ she had said, “I don’t think anything’s been done like it before, but there are lots of secrets and intrigue, and I think it’s going to throw and confuse a lot of people, and surprise a lot of people.” Moffat seemed to emphasize this point stating that her appearance, although feeling somewhat familiar, will be a “shock” to viewers:

“I’ll answer you in the show about how it’s going to be different. But because it is going to be different. It’s going to be a shock, I think. In terms of the companions all being ‘the same’ – that’s not as phony or artistically crap a thing to say as it sounds.”

We’ll see how shocking the new companion will be when she appears in the Christmas episode of ‘Doctor Who.’ And although there has been no formal word about when the series will begin airing this fall, The Guardian did announce that a preview screening of the first episode of season 7 (that will feature the special weaponed Dalek) will be airing at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival in late August. This has prompted many to speculate that the series may likely begin as early as the first weekend in September. Whovians will then be treated with 5 original episodes then a break until Christmas with the remaining episodes to air in 2013.

Moffat went on to describe what he thought where some of the characteristics of a good companion for the Doctor:

“What is the base group of people who would run away with the Doctor? They’re all going to be a bit mad. A bit dislocated. Not happy with where they are. Are they yearning for outer space? They’re going to be people who feel like they can take on the Doctor, who’s quite an intimidating sort of person. So, they’re going to be feisty – they’re going to be all those things. He sort of defines the people who are going to travel with him. The distinction comes very much from the various actors and actresses. So, you know, they’re the ones who create the differences between them. But you are always going to have the same sort of person, just because it’s the same man choosing them, and it’s the same person being chosen.”

This sounds all well and good and if you think you’re still in the running as a companion, Moffat did continue on with a little more specifics (mainly why the trend of companions seem to lean heavily towards pretty young females):

“I think the function of a companion is pretty simple. I don’t think that’s very difficult. It’s just a question of who credibly is going to agree to go in the TARDIS? Who’s going to do it? Is it going to be a mother of 15 children? No. Is it going to be someone in their 60s? No. Is there going to be a particular age range? I mean … who’s going to have a crush on the Doctor? You know, come on! It’s more than a format. It’s evolved from good, dramatic reasons.”

So, do you agree with Moffat’s views or do you think he’s too limited in what he thinks a companion should be? I, for one, feel that if Moffat were controlling the TARDIS (and at this point he technically is), it will probably never land in my backyard. I guess I’ll have to live vicariously through the young pretty ones.

Source: NME