WHOVIANS - the waiting is over. Actress Pearl Mackie has been named as The Doctor's new companion.
BBC One made the announcement at half time during the FA Cup semi-final match between Everton and Manchester United.
Mackie, from Brixton in south London, who will play a character called Bill, takes over from Jenna Coleman to star alongside the current Doctor, Peter Capaldi.
She trained as an actor at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 2010.
Since drama school, she has worked in theatre, film, radio and television. She played Anne-Marie Frasier in Doctors in 2014 and is also a singer.
Mackie is currently performing in the National Theatre's West End production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time.
On joining the cast in her first major television role, Mackie said: "I'm incredibly excited to be joining the Doctor Who family. It's such an extraordinary British institution, I couldn't be prouder to call the Tardis my home."
Capaldi called it "a genuine delight" to welcome Mackie to Doctor Who.
"A fine, fine actress with a wonderful zest and charm, she's a refreshing addition to the Tardis and will bring a universe of exciting new possibilities to The Doctor's adventures,” he added.
Mackie said: "Peter Capaldi is such a brilliant actor, and his Doctor is such a wacky and wonderful character.
"I can't wait to see what adventures are in store for him and Bill throughout time and space. Reading the script at the audition I thought Bill was wicked. Fantastically written, cool, strong, sharp, a little bit vulnerable with a bit of geekiness thrown in."
She added: "I can't wait to bring her to life, and to see how she develops through the series. I always loved stage combat at drama school so I can't wait to get on set and kick some evil monsters into the next dimension."
Steven Moffat, the Scottish outgoing lead writer and executive producer said: "A new face in the Tardis, a new voyage about to begin: welcome aboard the amazing Pearl Mackie. This is where the story really starts."
Acting director of television Charlotte Moore said: "It's so exciting to be revealing the much anticipated new companion to the nation in such spectacular style. Pearl brings a wonderful energy and lights up the screen. She will captivate Doctor Who fans old and new across the globe."
Executive producer Brian Minchin added: "We're utterly thrilled to have the hugely talented Pearl join Doctor Who and I can't wait to begin her new adventures in time and space."
The actress described shooting the trailer as "absolutely mental", adding: "There were pyrotechnics and smoke and I met my first Dalek. I'm not sure it will ever become 'the norm' seeing crazy monsters on set, but I cannot wait to meet some more. The weirder the better, bring it on."
First shown in 1963, Doctor Who was reintroduced to schedules in 2005 after a gap of nine years.
Coleman joined the cast in 2012, and starred alongside two Doctors, Matt Smith and Capaldi, the 12th Doctor who joined in 2014.
She left to take on the role of Queen Victoria in a major ITV drama series.
Moffat announced in January that he is leaving the show. He will be replaced by Broadchurch writer Chris Chibnall.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here