A new season 9 for "Doctor Who" is fast approaching, but rumors of Jenna Coleman leaving the series are confirmed.
Mirror reports that 29-year-old Coleman, who plays "time and space-hopping Clara Oswald," has accepted a new job—the major role of Queen Victoria in a new £10 million drama.
Coleman will be playing the role of Queen Victoria as she starts her reign, taking over the throne at 18. This new series is a project by ITV, in hopes that it will fill the gap that Downton Abbey will leave as it ends later this year.
In her three years with the Doctor, Coleman has been a longtime companion to Peter Capaldi and Matt Smith, and has been the longest-serving assistant since the series received a reboot in 2005.
The International Business Times reports that showrunner Steven Moffat revealed that Clara Oswald was already written out in season 8, but Coleman changed her mind about leaving.
"And then she asked me if she could be in Christmas?" Moffat explained, via Radio Times in March. "So I said, 'Okay, I'll write you out in Christmas.' She came to the read through and did the 'write out' version - and again changed her mind."
"But the truth is I never wanted her to go. I didn't really want Death in Heaven to be her last episode. And with Last Christmas, I'd already written the alternative version where she stayed, and I preferred that version. For Christmas Day it's a bit nicer. Frankly, I didn't want to lose her," Moffat explained.
"She's an amazing actress, and she never stops working to make Clara better. I was very happy to go the extra mile to make sure we could keep her."
Although the goodbye is confirmed, the IBT adds that this might not be the last time that fans will see her in the series, as "companions typically return when the Doctor leaves."
The Christian Post names the new season's episode titles, as they were recently revealed.
The opening is a two-part story with two episodes, "The Magician's Apprentice" and "The Witch's Familiar."
Episode 3, "Under the Lake," is followed by the fourth, "Before The Flood."
The fifth, "The Girl Who Died," will be starred by Maisie Williams from the Game of Thrones.
Episode 6 is titled "The Woman Who Lived."
Episode 7 will be titled "The Zygon Invasion" followed by "The Zygon Inversion."
Episode 9 will be called "Sleep No More," and episode 10 will be titled "Face the Raven."
For the finale story, episode 11 will be titled "Heaven Sent," and episode 12 will be titled "Hell Bent."
Watch out as Doctor Who Season 9 premieres this Sept. 19.
