When the next season of Doctor Who starts, someone new will eventually step into the Tardis as the Doctor's new companion.
The BBC plans on announcing who the actor behind that someone is on Saturday, April 23. The network has the announcement timed to begin during half-time of its Match of the Day Live event. For Doctor Who fans in the rest of the world, the BBC will also make the announcement through its various social media outlets, including the official Doctor Who Facebook page.
This announcement comes after the departure of Jenna-Louise Coleman, who portrayed companion Clara Osgood, who confirmed that she had plans to leave the series last year (although rumors of her departure began two years ago). Coleman was the longest-running companion since the reboot of the series in 2005 and was also the second companion of the new series to ever work with two Doctors, 11 and 12.
Although the reveal of the new companion comes in 2016, fans still have to wait until 2017 for a full season of the series, although a Christmas special will air this year. To make things even harder on viewers, the 2017 season will also serve as the last for showrunner Steven Moffat, who plans on handing over the reins to Chris Chibnall.
This means that the Doctor has already had an eventful year, even without new episodes to look forward to: the loss of a companion, the gaining of a new companion and the loss of one showrunner for a new one. American Doctor Who fans also had a rough start to the year, when both Netflix and Hulu pulled the series from their sites. Fortunately, Amazon Prime picked up the new series, although the classic series is currently unavailable on any streaming site.
Fans also found themselves relieved when Peter Capaldi confirmed that the BBC asked him to stay on as the Doctor after Moffat's departure. Capaldi has not confirmed that he has plans to do so, but his statements placated rumors that the BBC wanted to oust him.
Doctor Who returns to televisions this Christmas, with a new season airing sometime in 2017.
