Don't get me wrong I love J-L C as Clara and being a Blackpool girl cements my likeness for her but with Peter Capaldi now confirmed as the 12th doctor her casting feels so wrong.

A couple of reasons include:

1) Capaldi is far too old to have even been considered for the doctor role I expected someone younger or about 5 years older than Matt.

2) How are they going to have on-screen chemistry, Karen and Matt's was amazing it's going to feel like she is his daughter not "companion".

Just an opinion like but my Doctor Who viewing ends on Christmas Day.

See ya then.

I doubt a viewer so narrow minded would be missed tbh... Just an opinion.

Your lucky. You didn't have to sit through the Colin Baker years. A real fan would live with the changes!

Clara and 12th will have a different relationship - I.e friends. Thankgod we will have no romance between them. I think some of the best Doctor/companions have been when the Doctor is old.

5 years older than Matt Smith is the limit?

Bye, bye. The show doesn't and has never relied on the shallow fangirl to keep going.

How do you know that? He technically will be the same age as he was when he was 11 (give or take the minutes that tick by)......If Clara flirted with him as 11 why should we assume the age gap will bother her now?

Tonight I'm going to party like it's 1989...... Hopefully TPTB have more sense than to dismiss a part of the fanbase like that.

if they flirt so what? They are both adults for heaven's sake. I work in an office with several ages groups and they all flirt with each other. It's harmless banter.

That is what I am saying. Why does everyone think there will be no romance?

Urgh, you know, it's only since Tennant and Rose that people have seen the companion as someone who should fancy the Doctor and want a photocopy to take to an alternate universe. I think you misunderstand the meaning of the word companion too.

'it's going to feel like she is his daughter not "companion"'

A companion isn't someone with a romantic connection. A companion is a friend you travel with (or live with). SOMETIMES there is a romantic vibe but rarely.

The Doctor isn't a character who goes around plucking young Earth girls from their lives so that he can partake in sexual acts with them. He's an old man who travels the universe to explore, he takes young people with him because they haven't seen much and he wants to see the Universe through their eyes because it's incredibly boring on his own and he wants a different perspective.

leave? but she's only been on the show half a season!

Because "no romance" is the norm in Doctor Who. I don't think Time Lords are only attracted to humans, they're a completely different species. The Ten-Rose thing was very much an (imo unfortunate) anomaly.

Here Here

Last time I checked people were telling me Doctor Who was all about change?

It wasn't a Ten-Rose thing - it was a Doctor-Rose thing. There was a connection with Nine and Rose as well - it was Nine who had the closest thing to a proper kiss with her. I honestly can't understand why people are so hung up on knocking it. Until arguably the last scene with Rose in Journey's End it came down to a handful of throw away lines and looks that never got in the way of the story. If I'd never seen the episodes and I just joined the forum I would honestly think Rose and the Doctor were kissing every episode and declaring their undying love.

Once again: to put things into perspective:
Jon Pertwee (Third Doctor) in 1971: 52
Katy Manning (Jo Grant) in 1971: 25

Age Difference: 27 years
Result: One of the best loved Doctor/Companion relationships in the show's history.

The age difference isn't much of a problem.

There never used to be the slightest hint of romance until they stared casting young, pretty Doctors. I for one am relieved to have a Doctor / companion combination that is likely to drop all the sexual tension that has been tediously injected into Who.

They don't dare bring back River. Put two attractive 50-pluses in the Tardis, and things might explode in a way that will disgust the fangirls...

This.
I think she should stay for at least two more seasons. She was just introduced.
As for the age gap, I cant see the problem. Clara is his companion, not a love partner.
Remember Ninth and Rose. There was also the age gap. And it worked very well.

I wanted younger Doctor because Doctor should be a weird guy full of energy (like Andrew Scott), not because 'Clara is too young for him'. But, lets give him a chance. Maybe he will be weird old man.

By fangirls, you include yourself?

Are you suggesting they should pander to the small minority of the fanbase (and I use that term loosely) who can't see past the lead actor's looks?

Genuine question.

... and material that would allow her to inject some characterisation has yet to arrive!

You're thinking of the Doctor's relationship with the companion in narrow, romantic terms. Its like you think there has to be a romance between the Doctor and the companion.

In fact, Capaldi's casting is great for Jenna, as he and her are somewhat opposite. Capaldi can play a darker Doctor, contrasting with Clara's bubbliness. She will actually have much more to bounce off. She will be much less tied to the Doctor as a character, and instead of a lazy romance we get a real friendship developing.

By cutting out the romance angle it frees up both characters for more possibilities.

I don't see any need for Jenna to go. An older Doctor and younger companion can work perfectly well. Yes, it might look a bit stranger than with Ten and Eleven if she fancies him (though God knows it's not unknown for such rekationships to happen) but she doesn't need to do so, and actually I don't think we've any reason to think Clara looks on the Doctor in that way even now.

If anything the Doctor being older seems more appropriate. As mentioned by some others, there is the whole father/daughter vibe, or even just friends. The Doctor is supposed to be a very old genius character so some sense of separation between him and the companion works. The whole romantic aspect was fine as an attempt to try something different but should not be the norm. I somewhat agree that it maybe should have never have even been done at all in fact.

I'm actually looking forward to how she works with Peter. TBH, I've never really warmed to her and I didn't think her work with Matt was all that memorable. Perhaps she will have better chemistry with Peter.

Change is good.

Think I'm a bit old to be a typical fangirl! I'd love to see the kind of fireworks Alex Kingston and Peter Capaldi could produce - the flirting would be epic.