Jenna Coleman’s ‘Doctor Who’ exit has been scrapped twice.
The 28-year-old actress – who plays the Timelord’s assistant Clara – had originally planned to depart during series eight’s final episode, ‘Death in Heaven’, but changed her mind to appear in the Christmas special, and then decided she didn’t want to leave during that show either.
Showrunner Steven Moffat said: "[‘Death in Heaven’] was her last episode.
"And then she asked me if she could be in [the] Christmas [special]. So I said, ‘OK, I’ll write you out in Christmas’.
"She came to the read through and did the ‘write out’ version – and again changed her mind."
Despite Jenna’s indecision, Steven insists he "never wanted her to go".
He told Doctor Who magazine: "I didn’t really want ‘Death in Heaven’ to be her last episode.
"And with ‘Last Christmas’, I’d already written the alternative version where she stayed, and I preferred that version.
"Frankly, I didn’t want to lose her. She’s an amazing actress, and she never stops working to make Clara better. I was very happy to go the extra mile to make sure we could keep her."
Jenna will return opposite Peter Capaldi in ‘Doctor Who’ series nine on BBC One later this year.
Jenna Coleman’s changing exit
