Someone asked me recently whether or not I thought Jenna Coleman would stay through the end of Series Nine. The question surprised me, since I’m doing my damnedest to avoid any hints, clues, or photos-from-the-set that might tell me anything about upcoming episodes, but some of that is unavoidable (like the return of certain characters), and I hadn’t heard any rumors that suggested Clara might leave.

If recent years have taught us anything, it’s that keeping a secret from Doctor Who fans is nigh impossible these days. Whether it’s a BBC insider accidentally leaving a file server open to the public or someone inside the production team letting something slip at an inappropriate time or place, nothing big has managed to stay under wraps lately. I would thus be super surprised if we’re getting a Companion switch this series, as that’s the kind of news that even I wouldn’t be able to avoid.

Having said that, I think it would be cool to be proven wrong.

You may recall from my S7 and S8 reviews that I much preferred Clara during this past series, once she stopped being a plot point and became an actual character, though I’m also not super enamored of her. She doesn’t exactly rub me the wrong way—I’m not campaigning for her immediate removal, or anything—but I am ready for a change.

Clara, in one incarnation or another, has appeared in twenty-five episodes now—effectively two full series’ worth—over the last three years (Oswin’s surprise introduction (there’s a case where secrecy did work) in Asylum of the Daleks was on 01 Sep 2012). She’s done yeoman’s work being the audience’s touchstone through both a multi-Doctor special and a regeneration, and having carried us through that transition, I think it’s time for the character to move on.

The tough part will be making that work within the narrative.

To my mind, the problem is that she’s already had the perfect send-off; it just didn’t stick. As I understand it, Jenna wasn’t sure whether or not she’d be staying, so Moffat had to write two possible endings to Last Christmas. As it aired, what would have been Clara’s farewell to the Doctor turned out to be another dream sequence instead (or was it?). We still got to see that farewell scene, though, and it felt (to me, anyway) as perfect as a farewell to Clara could have been. So what will they do next time?

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the Companion they had to introduce three times (Asylum, The Snowmen, and The Bells of Saint John) would need multiple farewells, too, but it feels a bit much. “The Impossible Girl” has been all up and down the Doctor’s timeline (ugh) and saved him more times than we can accurately count (double ugh), and frankly I’m tired of Doctor Who being about Clara. This isn’t the ’60s, when (they thought) an alien masquerading as a harmless old man couldn’t carry a science fiction show as its lead.

And the one constant through the show’s more than fifty-year history is change. Maybe we’ve gotten complacent lately, with Amy and Eleven staying together on screen for two-and-a-half series after either a Doctor or Companion change at least annually until Matt Smith came on the scene. Series Seven gave us a new Companion and Series Eight a new Doctor, so I can live with one more series with the same TARDIS Team, but more than that feels stagnant.

So do I think Clara will stay through Series Nine? Probably. I won’t even mind if she does. But should she stay beyond that? I vote no. Like the Doctor, I’m always ready to explore something new. Bring it on.