# Jenna Coleman reportedly leaving Doctor Who **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 17, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731 "2014-08-17T01:46:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/21 "2014-08-17T21:17:56Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I have to assume that they came up with the concept, cast her, filmed the first few episodes - locking it all in - and then Matt Smith announced that he was quitting. In a panic, they decided to rush it all through, instead of passing the story line onto the new Doctor. All that netted them was a post-intriguing companion who never lived up to the intrigue, and a slate of stupid Hollywood-themed episodes that were written by monkeys. I actually struggle to remember most of the last season: did anyone really _care_ about the Spoonhead guys? Or the Ice Warrior on the submarine? The non-arc episodes seem like they were written as an afterthought, and I’m sick of Moffatt’s reliance on supposed grand, paradigm-shaking story arcs {will the Doctor die? will he reveal his True Name and destroy time itself?\*} that invariably fizzle out in disappointment. They need to get back to some straightforward old-fashioned Doctor vs. Evil two-parters. And bring back [Sil](http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Sil): he was just the sort of proper evil little cackling bastard they need right now. \*No and no, respectively. Did you guess? ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/22 "2014-08-17T22:30:09Z")
I’ve enjoyed Jenna, though I think, rather like Matt Smith, she’s been somewhat hampered by being saddled with the disappointing Moffat. It’s about time for a new companion, in any event, so I’m content to let her go and cross my fingers we get a new showrunner next season or so. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/23 "2014-08-18T00:24:22Z")
In her final episode, Jenna Coleman (previously Jenna-Louise Coleman) sees the episode credits and discovers, to her horror, that she is now billed as simply Jen Coleman. Realizing that prolonged exposure to the Doctor is causing her name to slowly vanish from existence, she flees to ensure that she doesn’t wake up one day to discover that she is down to being just J-Cole. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/24 "2014-08-18T00:28:28Z")
[old curmudgeon] Good. I’m looking forward to the show starting fresh - of course, the guy I really want out is Moffat, but I hope this is a sign things are going to change. There aren’t any plots anymore, just ridiculously convoluted non-stories that use their needless complexity to hide the fact that it’s all meaningless fluff. It’s the opposite of the old Doctor Who - they’ve got all the fancy special effects a show could ever want, but there’s no writing to back it up. I’d rather have a monster who’s a guy in a garbage bag and a dollar store mask while having great scripts. [/old curmudgeon] I’m also happy the new guy’s older - seriously, the whole 900 year old hitting it off with 25 year olds thing was getting creepy. ---
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/25 "2014-08-18T11:28:04Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > I’m also happy the new guy’s older - seriously, the whole 900 year old hitting it off with 25 year olds thing was getting creepy. You wait 'til you’re 900 years old Sonny-Jim. ---
**Author:** ![TRex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@TRex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRex)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/26 "2014-08-18T13:14:28Z")
I remember reading somewhere that she was angry when Matt Smith decided to leave, who knows. I quite liked her but felt she was pretty one dimensional. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/27 "2014-08-18T14:42:54Z")
I felt like Clara was crammed down our throats splinter by splinter. Since she’s actually multiple versions, that’s multiple origin stories heaped upon the audience, giving them no time to build rapport with a single Clara. In _The Name of the Doctor_, she becomes infused into every Doctor Who storyline ever as an unseen guardian angel. In the following episodes, there’s no mention of Dr. Simeon’s efforts being thwarted, since more blockbusting events such as Gallifrey’s rescue and Matt Smith’s swan song took precedence. It’s like Clara’s importance was quietly swept under the rug. I would accuse the DW makers of wankery, but I enjoyed it too much. It’s unfortunate Clara is leaving, but she was caught up in a whirlwind. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/28 "2014-08-18T17:07:06Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > I felt like Clara was crammed down our throats splinter by splinter. Since she’s actually multiple versions, that’s multiple origin stories heaped upon the audience, giving them no time to build rapport with a single Clara. I agree completely. Having a mystery girl with a mystery origin and a mystery future completely failed to hook me with any curiosity. It just felt like a constant retcon backpedaling. It’s why I stopped caring about **Lost** shortly into its second season. That said, “Asylum of the Daleks” was one of the greatest Who episodes in history, thanks primarily to Jenna Coleman. It’s a damn shame that that instance of her character didn’t become the later companion foundation. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/29 "2014-08-18T21:49:15Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > I agree completely. Having a mystery girl with a mystery origin and a mystery future completely failed to hook me with any curiosity. It just felt like a constant retcon backpedaling. It’s why I stopped caring about **Lost** shortly into its second season. > > That said, “Asylum of the Daleks” was one of the greatest Who episodes in history, thanks primarily to Jenna Coleman. It’s a damn shame that that instance of her character didn’t become the later companion foundation. One of my favorite things about Doctor Who fans is how wildly opinions vary about the show. I saw Asylum of the Daleks as more-or-less garbage (albeit garbage with a couple solid performances). On the other hand, I love “Love & Monsters,” which is an opinion…not universally shared. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/30 "2014-08-18T22:01:33Z")
:ducks in quietly: Uh…I’ve actually seen\* the first 3 episodes with Peter Capaldi and I only mention it because I really think Jenna Coleman really shines in the new episodes, especially compared to in the past. I think it massively is helping to have a new Doctor. When she entered the show, Matt Smith had been with two companions for a very long time and he had a ton of story/emotional baggage and attachment with them. Capaldi, who plays the Doctor quite differently, does not have that baggage. Yes, it is technically the same Doctor, but we all know how different they seem after regeneration. I especially think she shines in the first and third episode of the new series and I think it is a shame that she is leaving. She’s a good companion for the kind of Doctor Peter Capaldi is portraying. I won’t say any more since we would enter spoiler zone, but if you are curious about my thoughts on Capaldi and her, PM me and I’ll share freely. \*Yes…I bootlegged them. It’s bad and perhaps irredeemable to some, but know that I will watch the show as it airs and very likely purchase a DVD set of the series when it hits shelves. They will “get my money”, so to speak. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731/31 "2014-08-18T22:12:05Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > It might have been nice if Moffat had ever actually bothered to write her a character other than “perky girl who drives strained plot”. Reasonable eye candy, otherwise totally unmemorable. There’s an old Doctor Who thread back in the RTD era where pepperlandgirl remarked on some stylistic traits that allows the viewer to immediately identify a Moffat story among all the other writers (a cute girl with a penchant for snappy lines, singular lines becoming creepy mantras like “don’t blink” or “silence will fall” and unusual baddies outside of the regular who complement) which was fine every 7 episodes or so but gets tiring season long. I still think there’s a huge narrative hiccup between The Name of the Doctor and the anniversary special. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jenna-coleman-reportedly-leaving-doctor-who/695731.md?page=1)