Doctor Who’s Jenna Coleman Has A Few Words To Say About Her Possible Departure

By Brent McKnight | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

jenna-colemanThe Doctor certainly goes through travelling companions with a startling regularity. It makes sense, when you’re life consists of adventures through space and time, you’re obviously going to run into some dangerous situations, and some make their exit that way. Not to mention that this is an incredibly stressful way to live, so even if they don’t kick the bucket, it’s easy to see why they might opt to return to their boring, humdrum human lives. Last month we heard that the Time Lord’s latest compatriot, Jenna Coleman’s Clara, could be leaving Doctor Who, and, as it turns out, she’s got something to say on the matter.

Reports circulated that Clara could make her final farewell after the Christmas special later this year, smack in the middle of the freshly minted season 8. While that would suck, it doesn’t sound that far out of the realm of possibility. The specials are known for holding key moments in the franchise, and that would certainly be a noteworthy occurrence. And though it feels like she just got here (the sporadic nature of the show can feel like that sometimes), by that point she’ll have been a passenger in the TARDIS for two years, which isn’t a bad run.

But what does Coleman have to say on the matter? In an interview with Radio Times, she says:

“There’s lots of rumours. We’ve sat down with [showrunner] Steven Moffat and we’ve all decided we don’t want anyone to know which way it’s going … If you know I’m in the next series–or if you know I’m off–you’ll know how the story ends.

Well that doesn’t tell us anything, except for the fact that she’s not planning to tell us anything. I guess we’ll just have to find out if Clara is leaving us or not the old fashioned way, but actually tuning in and watching the damn show. (But we want to know everything before it happens! Stomps foot. Crosses arms. Pouts.)

Doctor WhoLet’s just say it won’t surprise us entirely if she exits the show come December. Much has been made of the ramped up darkness of these new Doctor Who episodes, which has certainly been the case, and what’s darker than killing off a character (unless you’re The Walking Dead and do it damn near every week, then it’s just business as usual). But there’s also a tension between Clara and Peter Capaldi’s new incarnation of the Doctor, so you could also imagine her making the conscious choice to return to her old life. In many ways, that could be even more of a blow than her death.

Coleman also sounds like she just might need a break, for herself as well as to explore other career options. She says, “I’ve been working too hard. There’s not even time for auditions or anything. I’m filming till October.” She also reveals that filming for season nine of Doctor Who is scheduled to begin in January, though she obviously neglects to mention if she’ll be involved or not. Clever girl.

Stay or go, Coleman goes on to tease some big goings on in the upcoming episodes. She says, “Because there’s a surprise we’ve got coming, it’s much better that nobody knows which way it’s going to go–so that’s where we’re trying to keep it at the moment.”

Will you be sad to see Clara go, if that is indeed the case? Have you enjoyed her time as the Doctor’s companion? Or are you looking forward to seeing some new blood and fresh faces?

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