The BBC Announces Doctor Who’s Newest Companion

Much to the delight of Whovians everywhere, the BBC’s Doctor Who returned to our screens today with its festive special, offering up another thrilling adventure for the Thirteenth Doctor and her gang. It was an outing full of surprises, action, fan-pleasing moments and more. And to cap it all off, the network has now revealed John Bishop as the newest companion for the titular hero.

Announced just moments ago, the BBC made things official via a press release, explaining that as Bishop’s character Dan “becomes embroiled in the Doctor’s adventures,” he’ll “quickly learn there’s more to the Universe(s) than he could ever believe. Traveling through space and time alongside the Doctor and Yaz, he’ll face evil alien races beyond his wildest nightmares.” Color us intrigued.

Speaking about his excitement at boarding the TARDIS, the actor said:

 “If I could tell my younger self that one day I would be asked to step on board the TARDIS, I would never have believed it. It’s an absolute dream come true to be joining Doctor Who and I couldn’t wish for better company than Jodie and Mandip.”

Meanwhile, showrunner Chris Chibnall added:

“It’s time for the next chapter of Doctor Who, and it starts with a man called Dan. Oh, we’ve had to keep this one secret for a long, long time. Our conversations started with John even before the pandemic hit. The character of Dan was built for him, and it’s a joy to have him aboard the TARDIS.”

And finally, producer Matt Strevens said:

“It’s been a total joy having John join the cast and we’ve been having a lot fun on set already. We can’t wait for you to meet Dan when the show returns later this year.”

Of course, Bishop will now fill the gap left by Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole, who bowed out in the aforementioned Holiday Special. And while it remains to be seen if he’ll fit in with the Doctor and Yaz as well as their last travelling companions did, his excitement has already got fans pretty hyped judging by the reaction on social media.

Unfortunately, we don’t yet know when season 13 of Doctor Who will be with us, as the pandemic has thrown up quite a few roadblocks for it as far as production goes, but it is coming together at this very moment and hopefully, folks will find the outing that aired today satisfying enough to tide them over for a while. After all, it may be some time before new episodes come our way given the aforementioned pandemic and all the trouble it’s causing.

Tell us, though, are you excited to hear about the latest addition to the cast of the hit sci-fi show? As always, let us know down below in the comments section.