Who On Earth Is Karen Gillan?

As millions of people were figuring out how to skive off work on a sunny Friday afternoon, the BBC finally issued a statement revealing the identity of the next Doctor Who companion. Karen Gillan was the name that launched a thousand Googles and finally laid to rest those ridiculous Lily Allen casting rumours. So who is this relatively unknown actress that will star alongside the similarly obscure Matt Smith in Steven Moffat's era of the show?

Born 21 years ago in Inverness, the rather striking redhead has 'done an Agyeman', having already appeared in the modern incarnation of Doctor Who in another role. Part of the sinister Sybilline Sisterhood in 'The Fires Of Pompeii', Gillan was hidden beneath lashings of white make-up and a red cloak, with little to do apart from look all psychic and petrified. Presumably she met an ashy end.

As part of the experience, she was lucky enough to be part of a select few who flew out to Rome for the location shooting. "It was so much fun playing a villain – you can really go over the top," she told Highland News in advance of the episode's transmission. That role in 2008 was only her second television part, following her debut two years earlier in the Ken Stott crime drama Rebus. In the episode 'Question Of Blood', she played 'off the rails' teenager Terry Cotter at a college in which a shooting takes place.

Subsequent jobs, including her Who foray, certainly capitalised on her aptitude at playing highly disturbed young women. Richard Jobson cast her in his film New Town Killers (out in mid June) as a troubled young lass who helps out the titular murderers; she turned up as an anorexic nun in Channel 4's short film Thinspiration; while short-lived ITV drama Harley Street featured Gillan in a guest role as a self-harming model.

This wasn't her first dalliance with the modelling world, hardly a surprise given her statuesque 5"11 frame and luminous looks. In 2007 she roamed the catwalk at London Fashion Week for designer Allegra Hicks. "It's something I was doing as a hobby... I really enjoy it," she told Highland News. There's no doubt that many lenses will be trained on her in the very near future, so it's very handy that she's fine with being gawped at. Her notable height does beg the question - should the Cybermen wear stilettos to maintain their towering stature if they encounter The Doctor's upcoming companion? After all, they wore moon boots and cricket gloves in the 80s - and are predisposed to flares.

Acting has always been Gillan's first love though, and such was her determination to succeed that she ditched school after her GCSEs to study acting at Telford College in Edinburgh. This enabled her to nab a highly prized spot at London's prestigious Italia Conti Stage School, whose graduates include the first ever Doctor Who star William Hartnell and William Russell, who played schoolteacher companion Ian Chesterton in the show's first two seasons. To put matters into perspective, Bonnie Langford, who played a certain carrot juice guzzling Doctor's assistant, also graduated from Italia Conti.

As Doctor Who is often light-hearted in tone, it's pleasing to see that Gillan has also earned her stripes in the comedy world too. In Channel 4's first season of The Kevin Bishop Show in 2008, she demonstrated her timing and versatility by taking on various comedic roles.

Given all these attributes, it's little surprise that forthcoming showrunner Steven Moffat dubbed her "funny, and clever, and gorgeous, and sexy". He added: "A generation of little girls will want to be her. And a generation of little boys will want them to be her too."

It remains to be seen what the exact nature of her character will be, but these are exciting times in the Whoniverse with two little known but highly touted young actors soon to be taking over the Tardis controls. The possibilities are endless and it looks like Karen Gillan will be travelling much further than Rome this time... albeit with the help of some CGI and a quarry or two.