Matt Lucas’ bumbling duffel-coated Nardole will “fill the space” of the Doctor’s companion before Pearl Mackie’s debut in 2017, say sources. And Justin Chatwin will also star as a “superhero”…

Sources at Doctor Who have confirmed that Peter Capaldi’s Time Lord will not have a temporary companion when he embarks on his Christmas adventure at the end of the year.

Instead, the “companion space” for the as-yet-untitled episode belongs to Matt Lucas’ Nardole, River Song’s former assistant who was previously seen with his head atop the body of a robot in last year’s festive adventure The Husbands of River Song. Whether or not he will still be in that state come this 25th December remains to be seen.

The BBC had already revealed that Nardole is to appear in the upcoming series 10 but we can now confirm that he will play a major role in the Christmas special as well.

The Radio Times have stated that another guest character will be played by Canadian actor Justin Chatwin (below).

The 33-year-old star, who played Tom Cruise’s son in War of the Worlds and starred in the US remake of Shameless and the latest series of American Gothic, is understood to have been cast as a “superhero character” in the Christmas special, according to sources on the show.

It is expected that he will portray a brash figure with an American accent – and in all likelihood a few dark interstellar secrets of one sort or another.

“The Doctor won’t have a temporary companion this Christmas and essentially that space will be taken by Nardole,” said a source. “He’s not a companion as such but it’s not as if he doesn’t play a similar role.”

Head writer Steven Moffat has indicated that the Christmas special will have “a lot of heart…[and] a lot of brain too”, while sometime Doctor Who writer Mark Gatiss said the script made him cry.

The BBC declined to comment on the speculation.

As the BBC has already confirmed, Mackie will make her debut in the first episode of series ten, which is expected to air in late spring 2017.

The opening episode is written by Moffat, executive produced by Brian Minchin, produced by Peter Bennett and directed by Lawrence Gough. The second episode in the new series has been penned by Frank Cottrell-Boyce.

Holby City Hospital is used to dealing with mysterious patients but it seems as though they’ve got a mysterious doctor on their hands now too.

Amanda Mealing, who plays Consultant Connie Beauchamp, shared a snap of the curious man in question via her Twitter account.

Knock, knock.
Who's there?
Three Drs.
Three Drs who?
No, just one Dr who. Numpty! pic.twitter.com/XW6TzS3MKE

— amanda mealing (@meamandamealing) September 28, 2016

Of course we all know him as Peter Capaldi – or the 12th Doctor, but what is the Time Lord doing in hospital?

Does he have a health issue? Or is he on the hunt for the next Rory Pond? Nurses make very good companions, after all!

It could have something to do with the Doctor Who set not being far from the Casualty one – they’re both in the same complex in Cardiff.

We’ll keep an eye out for Connie and co when The Doctor returns in April.

In a pole conducted by Digital Spy the absolute favourite TV character of the 21st century (so far) is David Tennant’s 10th Doctor!

Over 241,000 votes were cast, and it all came down to the battle of the super fans.

With a whopping 35,000 votes, David Tennant’s 10th Doctor from Doctor Who came out on top, narrowly beating Supernatural‘s Castiel (Misha Collins) with 32,000.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes came in third, but was quite a way behind with 13,000 votes.

Mads Mikkelsen’s Hannibal Lecter was fourth, while Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones came fifth.

Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Buffy Summers was the highest female character in sixth place.

The top 20 in full:

1. The 10th Doctor (Doctor Who) – 35,000

2. Castiel (Supernatural) – 32k

3. Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock) – 13k

4. Hannibal Lecter (Hannibal) – 9.3k

5. Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones) – 8.8k

6. Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) – 8.5k

7. Mal Reynolds (Firefly) – 7.3k

8. Gregory House (House) – 7.2k

9. Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead) – 6.1k

10. Sheldon Cooper (The Big Bang Theory) – 5.9k

11. Walter White (Breaking Bad) – 5.5k

12. Barney Stinson (How I Met Your Mother) – 5.2k

13. Perry Cox (Scrubs) – 4.4k

14. Ron Swanson (Parks and Recreation) – 4.1k

15. Violet Crawley (Downton Abbey) – 4.1k

16. The Evil Queen (Once Upon a Time) – 3.8k

17. Maurice Moss (The IT Crowd) – 3.3k

18. Stewie Griffin (Family Guy) – 3.3k

19. Dexter Morgan (Dexter) – 3.1k

20. The Stig (Top Gear) – 2.9k

It’s been six years since Mickey Smith last appeared on Doctor Who – yup, we feel old too.

But now his alter-ego Noel Clarke’s says that he’d consider returning to the series… only this time, behind the camera.

Clarke’s directed four movies since 2008, with his latest – Brotherhood – debuting at number two at the UK box office.

So when we spoke to him about his new ITV thriller The Level, we couldn’t resist asking… would he consider returning to the TARDIS to make his TV directing debut?

“If they asked me, then it would be a consideration,” he told us, before adding: “But they haven’t asked me, so I’m not considering it!”

Fair enough – but Clarke told us he’s absolutely keen to work behind-the-scenes on TV again after writing a 2006 episode of Torchwood and the 2008 TV pilot West 10 LDN.

“Films are hard to set up and hard to get done,” he said. “But TV shows are equally hard in a different way.

“You’ve got to go through broadcasters, they have to work out whether the show’s right for their audience. If anything, it’s now becoming easier because you have Amazon and Netflix and they just want content. Their thing is, ‘It’s right for someone, so if we like it, we’ll do it’.

“But with the main broadcasters, certain shows don’t work for certain networks, so it is pretty tough. But we’ve got TV shows on our slate.”

Clarke plays “lone wolf” cop Gunner Martin in The Level, beginning Friday (September 30) at 9pm on ITV.

Britons have voted for Doctor Who’s TARDIS as their favourite UK home on TV, beating mansions, castles and central New York apartments to the top of the list.

Perhaps we Brits just have a penchant for good and efficient storage space. Not to mention time travel.

The research – conducted by Yale – put Downton Abbey’s Highclere Castle in second place and in third was the white mansion Southfork Ranch which featured in the eighties drama Dallas.

But in reality, most Brits say their digs actually resemble Victor Meldrew’s house from One Foot in the Grave.

The TARDIS even beat Rachel and Monica’s apartment in Friends, and the most famous address on the list – 221B Baker Street, London – home to Sherlock Holmes.

See the nation’s top 20 favourite fictional homes below:

1. The TARDIS (Doctor Who)
2. Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey)
3. Southfork Ranch (Dallas)
4. Rachel and Monica’s apartment (Friends)
5. Chatsworth House (Pride & Prejudice)
6. Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment (Sex in the City)
7. Del Boy’s flat (Only Fools and Horses)
8. 221B Baker Street (Sherlock)
9. Frasier’s penthouse (Frasier)
10. The Good’s home (The Good Life)
11. Tracey Island (Thunderbirds)
12. The Banks family mansion (The Fresh Prince of Bel Air)
13. Mrs Brown’s home (Mrs Brown’s Boys)
14. Father Ted’s home on Craggy Island (Father Ted)
15. Red Dwarf (Red Dwarf)
16. The Addams family mansion (The Addams Family)
17. Flintstone House (The Flintstones)
18. Winterfell Castle (Game of Thrones)
19. The Royles’ home (The Royle Family)
20. Evergreen Terrace (The Simpsons)

Patrick Ness introduces you to the cast of Class, the Doctor Who spin-off coming to BBC Three and BBC America.