With the start of the eighth season of DOCTOR WHO – the first starring new Doctor Peter Capaldi – now just days away, rumours are surfacing that Jenna Coleman, who plays his on/off travelling companion Clara Oswald, will leave the series in this year’s Christmas special episode. 

Capaldi and Coleman, who finished filming on the latest series on 6th August, are currently in the middle of a whistle-stop world tour to promote the new series; so far they’ve touched down in Cardiff, London, South Korea, Australia and the USA with visits to Mexico and Brazil still to come before the tour ends on 19th August. The Christmas special is expected to begin filming in September and showrunner Steven Moffat has already confirmed that Coleman will be in the cast for the as-yet-untitled festive special. 

However the UK’s Mirror newspaper suggests that the episode will see Clara quit the TARDIS for good. The paper’s unnamed ‘source’ indicates that “the conversations about Jenna’s exit have started and a plan is in place which is being ironed out…it was very much a mutual decision. It’s important to keep the series moving and fast-paced and the time is just starting to feel right and the feeling is that it could be a perfect Christmas storyline.”

Coleman first appeared as Clara Oswald in the series in March 2013 although two different ‘versions’ of Clara appeared in episodes screened in September and December 2012 respectively. The BBC have yet to confirm or deny the rumours but Starburst will keep a close eye on the story and report on any future developments as and when.

DOCTOR WHO returns to BBC1 in the UK and BBC America in the USA on 23rd August and all around the world shortly afterwards.

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