Well, I’ve had a nubile American and a scatty red-haired Brit from Pease Pottage and now I’ve got one that I suppose, and with no disrespect to my previous companions, is an intellectual equal.

She’s a lecturer in history, and I mean Maggie herself is a smashing actress, but I think it’s great for my Doctor to have someone that he can bounce off intellectually. Someone who can actually turn the tables on him, unlike the screaming companion or the ‘I’m going to make you lose weight’ child companion. We’ve got one who is interested rather than scared and is actually quite feisty. She stands up to the evil that she encounters extremely well.

I think it’s an inspired choice, and I suspect that in vision there wouldn’t have been many producers who are brave enough to cast an older woman in the role of companion, but it works fantastically well.