How long before Clara leaves the TARDIS?

  By Tony Jones • March 26, 2014 ,

Clara Oswin OswaldAs we look forward to a new Doctor, new outfit and maybe a new sonic screwdriver we also know that there will be a new companion someone nearer Clara’s age.

All very exciting, but I wonder - will Clara leave the TARDIS in the next series?

Clara’s character

I like Clara; I think Jenna (Louise) Coleman brings the part to life and I really liked Soufflé Girl, Impossible Girl and the mystery of just who Clara was. This was answered in Name of the Doctor and since then Clara has been diminished. I thought she was fine in Day of the Doctor and although mostly acting as a generic companion she did start outside the TARDIS and was found at Coal Hill teaching in line with her earlier roles as governess and nanny.

By Christmas the focus was all on the departure of Matt Smith and I thought she was (as a character) minimised in Time of the Doctor though we did get to see some of her family - one-dimensional though they were.

I’d like to be proved wrong

I think that Clara has served her purpose. Like Rose she will help viewers bridge the continuity between regenerations of the Doctor and then leave. I’d like to be proved wrong but I doubt I will be.

How might she leave?

There is a vague fan theory that Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor is the start of a re-run of the cycle of Doctors rather the start of a new cycle. This means that in some way he is a reset of Hartnell’s First Doctor. If you follow that through then Clara has become an updated version of Barbara and surely then will leave by going off to be with Danny Pink (the new male companion). Unlike the departure of Amy and Rory I suspect this will be painted less permanently allowing Clara to re-appear if every required (60th anniversary anyone?)

Thoughts?

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  • Elizabeth Thorne

    I’m guessing 1/2 way through the “season”, though Moffat and Aunty are doing more to mangle that concept than bloody football. Anyway, they seem to be writing the relationship as awkward, very much like Peri and her inherited Dr., except without much motivation to work through it. Could be a dramatic device, but I’m going to put my money on it being a 1/2 season story arc that ends with her departure.

    As to where and how… That’s dicey considering she doesn’t belong and really isn’t supposed to be anywhere. Kind of like Gallifrey??? I’m thinking she ends up with that lot and becomes “the companion that was, now in another reality”, much like Rose did. Kind of Rose’s fate crossed with Leela’s.

    I have to say I hope the successor is cast better. Personally, I’ve been very underwhelmed by most the recent companions. Martha, Donna, Amy and Rory, and Clara have all left me more than slightly ho-hum. lol The TARDIS doesn’t like them because, they’re insipid Who gerls! I’m desperate for someone that I’m interested in in their own right. I’d even go for Charley Pollard at this point! Seriously, it’s like all the 3rd Dr’s companions were version of Victoria Waterfield. Yuck! Hell, there’s an idea. Screen debut of Iris Wildthyme. This Dr. already reminds me a lot of Jon Pertwee’s, so there’d be a wink and nod chemistry from fandom.

    • http://redrocketrising.com/ Tony Jones

      I think Iris might be one or two steps too far! I never got very excited about the Ponds and felt Clara had potential that never quite happened. Lucie Miller would work for me!

      • Elizabeth Thorne

        I agree! Seems I was wrong; Clara will be in the xmas special.

        I had a wild idea. Why not do a Romana? Pursue the “finding the Time Lords” thread with the development being that they manage to send one person through to help the Dr. Could be a great pun. Romana I introduced herself as having been handpicked by the President to help the Dr. but was really doing the bidding of the White Guardian, this one could really be there in the scenario that Romana I *thought* she was.

        I admit that Iris with this Dr. could get exponentially goofy.

        • http://redrocketrising.com/ Tony Jones

          Definitely wild! Did you see the news that there’s a Troughton in the episode?!

          • Elizabeth Thorne

            No, I didn’t ! Ah, Michael, “King Peladon’s” brother and Jim’s uncle. Jim Troughton is the butt of all manner of groaner puns as skipper of the Warwickshire first XI regarding his relationship to Patrick.