‘Doctor Who’ season 9: Jenna Coleman’s status unclear as Peter Capaldi confirmed

Could a split “Doctor Who” be happening within a matter of weeks now? Based on what we are hearing today, the rumors of Jenna Coleman departing the series are more likely than ever before.

Speaking at a recent DVD launch event, showrunner Steven Moffat told The Hollywood Reporter that while Peter Capaldi is officially on board for at least another season as the Doctor, the woman behind Clara Oswald is not. She could choose to depart during the season 8 Christmas Special later this year, and we would not be surprised if she did. This marks the third Christmas Special to feature the actress, which does serve as a testament to how long she has been on the show. The shelf life for a companion is typically only a few years at most, so the timing could be right for her to step down while her character is still missed.

If we do lose Coleman, we imagine that a search for a new companion would happen right away. As a matter of fact, it’s possible that the BBC and Moffat could already be circling candidates. Capaldi is someone who producers were interested in long before hiring him to replace Matt Smith; as a matter of fact, he was actually offered the chance to try out for the role occupied by Paul McGann decades ago, prior to when the show really revived itself again with Christopher Eccleston.

We would anticipate another “Doctor Who” season coming late next year, but who knows about that for sure? One of the tricky things here is that Moffat also has “Sherlock” going on, so we could see a situation where he works on that for a time, and we have to wait to see what happens with this series.

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