Doctor Who: 10 Things You Never Knew About Series 7 Of NuWho

8. Mid-Season Swap

When it comes to recasting Doctor Who, typically it comes at the end of a series (at least for NuWho, anyway - in the Classic Series, since the stories were broken into segments that ran for at least a month, sometimes new additions would come in after a story). Series 7, however, had not one but two major departures midway through the season, as both Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill (Amy and Rory, respectively) left the show after the fifth episode. This was the first time since 2005 that a major cast member left while the series was still in production, and the loss of the two companions led to the addition of Jenna Coleman, twice appearing in a single episode before her character perished, before finally becoming a permanent cast member in the Series 7: Part 2 premiere The Bells of Saint John. The void left by Amy and Rory leaving the TARDIS could have severely changed the outcome of Series 7, had Clara Oswald not been able to slide right in and become a fairly good companion in her own right. She might need a few more deaths under her belt to catch up to the Last Centurion, Rory Williams, though!