Why Every Modern Companion Left Doctor Who
9. Jenna Coleman - Clara Oswald
Much like her predecessors Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, Jenna Coleman decided to leave when it felt right from a story perspective. However, the timeline of her departure wasn't quite as simple as that of the Ponds.
Originally, Coleman was going to leave at the end of Last Christmas due to her contract running out at the end of series 8. Indeed, the script that made it to the Last Christmas readthrough included Clara's final scene. However, both Steven Moffat and Jenna Coleman felt that the time wasn't quite right for Clara Oswald to leave the TARDIS for good. After discussing this, they decided there was still another story to tell, so that Clara could go out on a high, by finally becoming her own version of the Doctor.
Staying for another year hardly hampered Coleman's career; she earned the accolade of longest-running modern companion, and she's barely been out of work since leaving Doctor Who in 2015!