Who will be Doctor Who's new sidekick?

It's been two months since Matt Smith was unveiled as the 11th Doctor, so the casting of his new companion must surely be imminent. Here are the contenders


Emma Rigby
A wild outside punt, but my personal favourite. Rigby plays Hannah in the rebooted Hollyoaks and is one of the best things about it. Her brutal performance in the anorexia storyline broke ground and won awards. Since then, Hannah's matured into a plucky, kooky and confident character, all fine qualities for Tardis travelling. She also looks suitably younger than Matt Smith. Rigby's imminent exit from Hollyoaks will dovetail perfectly with the start of filming for series five. And wouldn't it just annoy all the people who complained that Smith's casting was the "Hollyoaks-ing of Who" in the first place?

Michelle Ryan
For a long time, the obvious choice. Both accomplished actor and BBC household name, she also has sci-fi chops, having starred in the doomed remake of Bionic Woman in the US and Merlin in the UK. She has also worked previously with incoming writer Steven Moffatt – she was impressive in his Jekyll. She would be the perfect companion. So it's rather a shame that she's probably out of the running thanks to having already been cast as posh companion Lady Christina de Souza in upcoming special Planet of the Dead.

Lily Allen
A precocious pop celebutante reinventing herself as a time-travelling girl-next-door in the nation's favourite series? That'll never work! Still, the Sun's random casting generator provided a few seconds of amusement when it claimed that chiefs were "desperate to sign her". If Lily had any notable acting experience to speak of, and if her pop career wasn't flourishing, then this might have been something to think about. But, no. Ridiculous, obviously.

Carey Mulligan
If fans really had any power then this would have been decided months ago. Ever since her one-off appearance as Sally Sparrow in Moffatt's incredible season-three story Blink, fans have been calling for her to return when Moff takes the helm. Sally was the kind of arty and sarky girl that he excels at writing. But the fact that her story was finished, plus Mulligan's own growing reputation, make this another unlikely one.

Zoe Tapper
Don't be surprised to find Tapper – who looks like the kind of porcelain doll who could kick your teeth out – at the top of the most-wanted lists. She was sublime as Dr Anya in the remake of Survivors (a show whose cast overlapped with Who all over the place). Plus she's no stranger to Saturday night telefantasy – her turn as Mina Harker was just about the only thing worth watching in the likely-to-be-axed Demons.

Katee Sackhoff
The BBC cast an American Captain Jack in an attempt to make the show more exportable, but it only half worked, since his spin-off show Torchwood is a bigger deal in the US than Who. An American actor as the main companion would be the next logical step, and sci-fi's favourite daughter right now is Sackhoff, the conflicted kick-ass heroine Starbuck in Battlestar Galactica. Of course, Sackhoff's going to be doing plenty of auditions at the moment.

Freema Agyeman
Agyeman has already as good as admitted that she's probably coming back to ease the transition between the two Doctors. It's unlikely that Martha Jones would step back aboard the Tardis full-time, but she's the only one of Ten's companions who feasibly could maintain a presence in the Whoniverse. This would be Russell T Davies's third attempt to do the character of Martha justice, having wasted her with the unrequited love story in series three and sent her off on solo night missions for most of series four.