Jenna/ Clara so needs to pass on to the next companion. An introduction maybe or done already Clara has been impossible, from start to finish and brilliant has she has been, so for Clara there is still impossible but for The Doctor there is a future, as a future can be and so be.

You realise that if she leaves at the end of series 9, it's still their Last Christmas together?

well,in a way, the series 8 Clara HAS been a different companion from the series 7 Clara.She has been written differently.
It does fit that the capaldi doctor goes back to the early days with his style of doctor and so does clara the teacher in coalhill school where susan was a student.They fit together in a way that didnt happen with Matts doctor.

And Im glad the relationship is not about romantic love but more edgy. They are close but its different which is interesting because there are many forms of "love" and companionship.

It'd be nice to see her have some proper time when her story isn't hampered by the romance with Danny (that didn't really work). I much prefer Clara's s7 story because of that. Even so she was the main reason I watched all of s8 and the only character whose fate I cared about so I'd be very happy with her staying.

She replaced the Godawful Amy, and for that I will forever be grateful to Clara.

So if she's staying, the alleged pregnancy storyline wont happen?

(Or she finds out during the Xmas special but keeps it from the Doctor until she cant keep it secret no more!)

Aha, agreed.

What was wrong with Amy ?. Ok yes she could be moody and bossy sometimes but no one is perfect not even the doctor. Amy's life was turned upside down several times. No wonder she had moments when she was upset and angry. First her friend messes up her childhood by disappearing for 12 years. Later she nearly doesn't get married because her groom keeps dying!. After her honeymoon she was abducted and violated while pregnant. After giving birth in a cold cell her baby girl, the only child she would ever have was ripped out of her arms. Finally she has to chose between staying with her best friend and daughter or living and dying in the past with her beloved Rory. Think she was brave to make that choice. Companions are all individuals. No need for them to compete with each other.

I hope Clara does leave at Christmas. She was good in Deep Breath, a big improvement on the previous series, and had a promising start to her relationship with Danny. But sadly, the Clara/Danny thing got tedious and I never warmed to her. Despite some great acting from Jenna, Clara was the reason series 8 didn't fully work for me. I really liked the way the Doctor and Clara parted at the end of Death in Heaven, even at the end of Mummy on the Orient Express would have worked well.
I suppose the will she/won't she guessing game is useful for publicity. If I had to guess, I'd say she will go at Xmas, choosing to stay with a resurrected Danny (courtesy of Santa, in a way that won't make any sense once sobered up from the Xmas drinks)

I think she is brilliant as a character and the Doctor/assistant dynamic works really well with Capaldi. It makes a change to have an older man and a young assistant. I too would have much preferred this series uncluttered with any form of romance at all and just have it pure old fashioned adventure-and if there needed to be an avenue out next time introduce it then (and she doesn't seem to fit with Danny anyway-strange choice imo).
As far as Jenna Coleman is concerned, assuming she has any say in the matter, I would stay for as long as I could -its such a fantastic role and status to have. Like living a dream.

wish she would go soon , really don't like her as a companion

Amy was fine. What you have said is what I will be saying about whoever replaces Clara. She can't be gotten rid of soon enough in my eyes, and from a story point of view the last episode of series 8 seemed perfect as her ending anyway so I don't even get why she is in the Christmas episode. Sincerely hoping it is her last.

Angie and Artie?

I like Clara and have never actively *disliked* a companion myself. Not even Adric. I know Series 2 Rose gets a lot of stick in fandom, but always saw her perceived 'smugness' as deliberate. It was leading up to a 'fall'. Even Ms Piper said she thought Rose could be a selfish ***** on occasion. Flawed can be interesting. Still, my guess is that Clara wont be in all of Series 9, if any.

I also guessed that Missy wasn't the Master and shrugged off the idea that the Brigadier would be present in the last episode. So she's probably signed for 2 more years.

Clara's fantastic but the Christmas special could really go either way in determining whether or not she has a future on the show.

I never understand the Amy hate, she was brilliant, her and Rory are my favourite NuWho companions

As for Clara staying, I've nevr thought much of her, she annoyed me a lot when she was witrh Matt, and while she has been better this last series with Capaldi she;s just never struck a chord with me, I find her very dull and forgettable. I'm still not sure about Capaldi in the role and would like to see what he's like with someone new.

I do. But Moffat is a tease and so I think last Christmas refers to the threat rather than Clara.

I agree with you. I appreciate that Jenna is a good actress but her characterisation has been too confused. She was made 'too important' for my liking. The doctor should be the most important character, not the companion.

I'd like to have a new companion who is not the saviour of the world or the doctor, someone interesting along for the ride.

Agree, the impossible girl stuff began to grate pretty quickly, and her romance with Danny Pink bored me. It would just be nice to have a companion who's interesting, but not all important.

Yes. For me, the companion's journey is about how travelling with the Doctor brings out the best in them, as it did for Rose.

Or that, through their travels with the Doctor, they reach their full potential in the way they never would have if they had stayed at home, like Donna.

Clara had too much storyline pre-programmed into her time on board the TARDIS. There was just too much baggage from day one.

As you say, the next companion needs to be a breath of fresh air.

I liked Rose in series one, but by two she had become annoying. Donna became more confident and assertive in her travels. Martha was....lets not talk about her. Amy never seemed to change. Clara ditto.

Just the mirror protecting themselves

if she leaves they'll say told you so, if she stays they will say yes we were right

the worst companion since the rebirth.hopefuly moffat will see sense and do the right thing get rid

Except the twist was that she didn't have any such baggage. She had no more complicated a backstory than Rose or Martha, and considerably less than Amy. It was the Doctor's obsession that made things complicated, a theme they handled with more delicacy in Series 8.