Jenna-Louise Coleman – it has been revealed that the 25-year old actress is to be Doctor Who’s new companion.
The actress will take over the role from the Christmas special episode with Karen Gillan, who plays current Doctor Who sidekick Amy Pond, leaving after her 2 series stint in the role.
Jenna is probably best known at present for playing the part of lesbian Jasmine Thomas in Emmerdale. She has also played the part of schoolgirl Lindsay James in Waterloo Road and will soon be seen as Annie Desmond in the 4 part mini-series of Titanic.
There should be some good on-screen chemistry between Jenna and Matt Smith as Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat said that their partnership “came to life” during Jenna’s auditions. He said: ”There was a moment I remember from the second time she came in, and they were auditioning together and they both looked frightened doing a Doctor Who scene, and it just was an instant poster.” Moffat is one of our top tv screenwriters, as well as writing Dr Who he also co-wrote the recent brilliant series of Sherlock on the BBC.
Little is known about the new character that Jenna will be playing, not even the character’s name. Writer Steven Moffat said: ”Who she’s playing, how the Doctor meets her, and even where he finds her are all part of one of the biggest mysteries the Time Lord ever encounters. Even by the Doctor’s standards, this isn’t your usual boy meets girl.”
Jenna will start filming the new Doctor Who series next weekend but we will have to wait until Christmas Day to first see her in the new role. There are 6 episodes of Doctor Who to be seen this year with Karen Gillan’s character being written out in the 5th episode. There are already another 8 more episodes planned for 2013.
Kym Marsh – the Coronation Street star is set to take on the role of Elsie Tanner, one of the icons of the show, in the new musical version “Street of Dreams.”
35-year old Kym is best known these days for her role as underwear factory manager Michele Connor in Corrie and the Pat Phoenix role should give her plenty to get her teeth into as she had the most colourful life during her time in the soap.
Talking of her new role in the musical Kym said: ”The strong, determined and indomitable women have always defined Coronation Street right from the very first episode to the present day and Elsie Tanner will go down in history as one of the most gossiped about women in Weatherfield. She’s left some rather big stiletto shoes to fill but to have the opportunity to represent such an iconic character of yesteryear on a stage of this scale is an absolute honour.”
It is no surprise that she has been picked for a role in the musical as before she started in her acting career Kym was a singer, with her first appearance on tv coming in 2001 on ITV talent show Popstars where she made the final line-up for HearSay. She left the band in 2002 and her solo single Cry got to Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.
Kym will share the part of Elsie Tanner with Jodie Prenger with Kym playing the 1960′s role and Jodie the 1980′s role. She is really looking forward to her new role and said: ”The entire production is just gorgeous with infectious songs which stick in your head! The music is fabulous, the orchestration is phenomenal and the cast are truly amazing. To be asked to play such an amazing part in something that people will be telling their grandchildren about in years to come is just a dream.”
Also appearing in “Street of Dreams” are a number of other Coronation Street actors including Julie Goodyear (Bet Lynch), Bill Roache (Ken Barlow) and Kevin Kennedy (Curly Watts). The show will also star Paul O’Grady and is to depict various momentous moments from the show’s history.
Street of Dreams is due to open in May and is currently set to show in Manchester, Dublin, Belfast and Newcastle.
