Clara Oswald’s replacement is likely to be “someone who’s not so impressed by the Doctor” and “doesn’t take him seriously,” suggests Capaldi.

Peter Capaldi has given us some further insight into the new Doctor Who companion, building on some comments he made last month about what we can expect from Clara Oswald’s successor. And – as if there was any doubt – it’s definitely a she…

“I think the companion has to be someone who’s not so impressed by the Doctor – she’s not an assistant, she’s not a servant, she can’t be that – she has to be someone who really says ‘are you sure that’s the right thing to do? What are you doing?’ and also doesn’t take him seriously,” Capaldi told Mexican blogger La Lata when asked what he was looking for from Jenna Coleman’s replacement.

We know from earlier interviews that have come out of Capaldi’s recent tour of Mexico that the new companion has already been cast and that we can expect “a very different sort of take” on the role following Coleman’s departure. And Capaldi’s latest comments would seem to fit with the idea he’s already put forward of a more down-to-earth character.

“Clara had prior knowledge of the Doctor,” Capaldi told Brazilian website Omelete in March. “It was conceived as a human connected to your timeline, and so had access to the cosmic nature of the Doctor. She understood a little about how he was. And as she was already with [Eleventh Doctor] Matt [Smith], she knew the Daleks and the TARDIS. Now we have someone who knows very little about the Doctor.”

Hmmm… someone who knows very little about the Doctor and doesn’t take him seriously. We seem to be building up a picture here of a companion who is going to be rather unimpressed with the Time Lord and is unlikely to put up with any posturing or sense of self-importance from him.

This could be a lot of fun…