Jenna Coleman Confirmed for ALL of DOCTOR WHO Series Nine

The Impossible Girl has another year of being impossible.

Dashing the hopes of fans who wanted a new companion for Series Nine, last night's episode of Doctor Who revealed that Jenna Coleman's character Clara Oswald will indeed return in "The Magician's Apprentice."

And according to the Radio Times, Coleman will be staying for all of Series Nine, putting to rest recent rumors that she would be leaving halfway through next season.  This will make her the longest-serving companion since the show's return in 2005 and the longest since Janet Fielding's character Tegan Jovanka left in 1984.

Speaking at the press screening of "Last Christmas" one week ago, showrunner Steven Moffat confirmed "Jenna is in all of the next series, which we’re delighted to reveal."  Moffat also seemed to confirm that Coleman's decision to stay was up in the air, adding "There was a certain amount of to-ing and fro-ing, wasn’t there Jenna?" Moffat asked Coleman at the post-screening Q&A.  "I always think I’m quite good at winding up people on this but Jenna completely outplayed me when she said in an interview 'I’m not telling you if I’m staying or going because it’s just more exciting.'  And it occurred to us all that we don’t start shooting until January so we could actually keep it a secret."

"It’s wonderful – a whole other series of stories with the Doctor," remarked Coleman.  "I couldn’t walk away with the story being unresolved, there’s so much more to do and I think [Clara and the Doctor] have finally just reached a point where they really understand each other.  The arrival of the Twelfth Doctor has just dropped this bombshell and allowed the dynamic to totally, totally change so I think, just when Clara was feeling more comfortable in the relationship, it’s suddenly thrown something totally new up and I think the comeuppance of that and the story that we got to tell over the season has been thrilling."

Peter Capaldi added his approval of Coleman's decision, saying "I think Jenna’s been just fantastic and it’s been such a pleasure to work with her – and especially for me as the new person onto the show, she’s just been fantastic – and so I was so excited and delighted when she finally [agreed to stay]."

It certainly appeared as if Coleman originally planned to leave in "Last Christmas," with Clara being shown at the end of her life for one last encounter with the Doctor.  However, it seems as though another scene was added to reveal that ninetysomething Clara was just another dream fantasy created by a Dream Crab, allowing the younger Clara to resume traveling across time and space once again.

Doctor Who should return for Series Nine sometime around August 2015.