12. Soufflé Surprise
Rose Tyler isn't the only companion who has showed up on our screens before she was supposed to. Back in 2012 fans weren't expecting to see Jenna Coleman in role as the Doctor's new companion until Christmas Day so Steven Moffat managed to well and truly dupe us all when she made her unannounced Doctor Who debut three months early in the Series 7 premiere episode Asylum of the Daleks. Granted she was a different character (or a different version of the same character, at least) than her future alias of Clara Oswald but it didn't really matter in the end anyway. Oswin's appearance was ultimately destined to be short but sweet when it transpired that she was actually a Dalek and then she went and got herself blown to smithereens which was confusing for the rest of us to say the very least. In a true case of timey-wimey, viewers wouldn't discover the truth behind Jenna's premature introduction until the end of the series when it was eventually revealed that Oswin was one of the 'fragments' of Clara's personality that had been created when she jumped into the Doctor's timestream to save him at various points throughout his life. Confused yet? Everyone had pretty much guessed that that would be the case by this point which is why the 'reveal' of the impossible girl itself hasn't been included in this countdown. At least Oswin got her moment to shine, though, in all her soufflé-making glory. Fans should've seen it coming, really. One of the first things Jenna said after being announced in the role was that she was sure she'd "meet the Daleks at some point". It had been staring us all in the face since day one.
Dan Butler
Doctor Who Editor
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
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