Eurghh. I was really hoping that they'd break the mould a little bit more - having picked another white, youngish (well - young) doctor, maybe be a little more creative and experimental with a companion? A man, or an older woman, or someone a bit more wacky, from a different time/place in history . . . There's so much to choose from, even in terms of historic Earth.

(and if it had to be a young white woman, why not Sally Sparrow & her husband? -g- They're interesting, and work well with each other already, without needing the Doctor as Mentor and Messiah.)