Who Will Be the Doctor's New Companion? 

In an interview with Brazillian website Omlette, Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi confirmed the show has officially cast the Doctor’s new companion. We know the Doctor’s new BFF will be a woman, but Capaldi stopped short of dropping the mystery actress’s name.

It was originally reported that the new hire was someone Peter Capaldi has worked with in the past, but it appears that claim was just a rumor. But we do know that the goal of casting the next companion was to find someone “different” than Jenna Coleman. And Capaldi is on record as saying his next companion will be someone who knows “very little about the Doctor.”

We can read that statement to mean the mystery actress will play a character brand new to the Whoverse, or perhaps a character who played a minor role on the show at some point. It has already been confirmed the show’s next season won’t air until 2017, and shooting probably won’t begin until May, so there is plenty of time to speculate who the Doctor’s new BFF may be. Here’s our list of 6 potential candidates for the gig:

Rakhee Thakrar

Rumor has it that the former EastEnders actress has been “in talks” about the role as the Doctor’s #2 for the past month or so. That makes her the favorite, but is it by no means a certainty; even as the BBC reportedly courts Rakhee, they have held a number of auditions for the role.

Olivia Coleman

We still think that Colman could be a great choice for the next Doctor, but it would make a lot of sense if she was announced as the Doctor’s next companion; she is a favorite of new showrunner Chris Chibnall, and would certainly make for a much different vibe with the Doctor than Clara Oswald.

Angel Coulby

The former Merlin star had a bit role as Kathrine, friend of Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, in the episode The Girl in The Fireplace. Reintroducing the Kathrine character and making her a companion might make for an interesting story arc, but if Coulby were tabbed, the likelihood is she’d be playing a character brand new to the Whoverse.

Katherine Parkinson

Though the former IT Crowd star has never appeared on the series, she did voice the role of engineer Danika Meanwhile in a Big Finish audio episode where she saved the life of the Seventh Doctor. It would be pretty compelling to bring Meanwhile’s character to the small screen with Doctor #12.

Jessica Brown-Findlay

Brown-Findlay was actually on the companion shortlist back in 2012 when Jenna Coleman was tabbed. Will the former Downton Abbey star finally get her turn in the TARDIS in 2016? According to reports, the role would be exactly what Brown-Findlay, who feels as though she has been pigeonholed by her turn as Lady Sybil, needs. Her turn on Black Mirror proves she has the chops to do sci-fi, but will she be tabbed to be the Doctor’s next bestie?

Eve Myles

Welsh actress Eve Myles is another favorite of Chibnall and would definitely be a departure from Clara Oswald. This could work one of two ways: having Myles playing her third different character within the Whoverse, or reprising her role as Gwen Cooper. The former option would be a little weird given Myles long run as the Torchwood agent, and the latter doesn’t necessarily fall under knowing “very little about the Doctor.”