Will try and put a poll up because there is a lot of conflicting reporting of Clara staying so...

Are you happy she is staying?

Yes Brilliant News

Its Ok

No More

I ticked the 'ok' box as its not really that brilliant she is staying. But, i would give the same tick to any companion - as they, like the doctor have a shelf life with regards their reign/time on the show. I've always liked clara as i did amy/rory as with any companion even adric who on watching the classics on horror has really been slated by you guys IMHO.
But, back to clara. She could easily do 1 more season. But, it will be interesting to see which direction her character now goes.

I really wanted to do yes or no but I know some people like 10 different options so decided to just do the maybe / ok option too.

I know this is a small straw poll. But hopefully this puts to bed that the majority wanted her gone.

12 was such a cold fish last series that Clara was the only reason I felt any involvement in the series and even then she was hampered by a relationship with a man that just didn't work. Glad she gets to stay around without being encumbered with Danny Pink and hopefully Moffat will make good on his promise to thaw 12 out and soften him up.

I voted 'no more'!

I don't necessarily think she's crap or anything but I never really warmed to her from the outset and have found her on/off companion tenure difficult to enjoy. I'm ready for a new companion and if she is staying on for a whole new season, I hope it'll be her last.

What I have found particularly annoying about her tenure is the constant set ups for her departure, it seemed like each episode she returns home and is left 'for good' only for him to return the next episode. Its got to the point now that when I think that a departure is imminent, I don't trust it and am a bit 'whatever' about it. Maybe that's the idea of it, who knows!?! There have been so many scenes where it would have been a good time or moment for her to departure. Its a bit like the 'Rory dying all the time' thing.

Neither pleased or disappointed that she's staying personally.

Needs an option for 'indifferent'

I was hoping the dream crab was going to eat her brain and forget to give her the happy dream, so no.

Brilliant news. The fact that she's not the Godawful Amy is enough for me to love Clara.

Originally I would have been annoyed that she is staying but after seeing the God awful Shona and fearing she would be the next companion I'm so glad Clara isn't going.

Yep should have been,
Yes
No
Indifferent.

I went with Brilliant,but it's a bit over the top tbh

I just don't want any more a character that seems a mixture of human / dalek / splinters.


I want an ordinary human again, not one that has allegedly helped each Doctor regeneration and that will be forever yearning for the dull as dishwater Pink character.

I'm really glad she's staying. She's my second favourite companion after Donna, who was given just the one series.

With Clara set to be around until the end of Series 9 (at least, though I suspect that that will really be the end game) it'll make her the longest serving companion since the revival - she'll have done three series by then (Asylum of the Daleks - Time of the Doctor was twelve episodes in and of itself for her).

I think if people want more of a focus on the Doctor than the companion, then keeping the same companion is the right way to go anyway. Plus it's feel that these characters aren't all so fleeting - the show as it is right now feels worlds away from the Eccleston-Piper year and it's wonderful to see some things last a little longer than that did. I'm hoping Series 9 takes on a more 'fourth series' vibe in that it was fun, adventurous, and for a while relatively varied. It got focused and dark near the end when it mattered, but the fourth series captured the 'all of time and space' aspect superbly earlier on and I hope the end of Last Christmas is an indication we're going to have that again. A Doctor and companion on the same level with each other, who have both been through much, and now have adventures ahead of them

What he ^ said, basically! Nicely put. There's now an increased depth of feeling between Twelve and Clara and it's obvious how well the actors work together and get on. Just the two of them out there with no Am I a good man?/ Part time companion stuff going on bodes well IMO. Capaldi's Doctor feels like he has a second chance after he thought he'd lost her and it's clear they both adore each other,really.

Dreadful decision. The show needs a new, likeable companion.

Clara for the WHOLE of season 9? Dear God . . .

It depends. If they are going to continue making Clara annoying (I honestly have no idea why the Doctor would want to travel with her considering some of her past behaviour) and make her overshadow the Doctor then no. I felt the Christmas episode was a step in the right direction if they continue with this during series 9 then I would be happy that Clara is returning.

It seems weird agreeing with you after numerous disagreements in the past, but everything you say here chimes with me the same. It's one heck of a mistake to keep her on the show.

I find it funny that Jenna says she couldn't leave with the story unresolved....what story is left to be resolved about her??? Her story was done at the end of Series 7, there's nothing let to tell about her...there's little motivation for me to watch really. I don't like Capaldi's Doctor and was hoping for a new companion that may provide that spark that'll make me like him. That'll be 2016 at this rate then, oh god...

The pairing of the 12th Doctor with Clara just hasn't worked for me. I can't really explain what it is, but it overshadowed the whole of series 8. There's been numerous setups where Clara could have plausibly left the show, each time hopes were dashed. Had they left the Last Christmas ending with the Doctor saying a poignant farewell to the old Clara, it would have been an amazing and fitting final exit, but yet again, it wasn't to be.

I can only assume the prominence of Shona and her mentioning the Doctor looking like a magician, and the title of the series 9 opener being announced beforehand, was all designed to make us think there was a new companion (perhaps Shona will still join the Tardis). Going by the straw-poll results so far, it looks like my opinion of Clara is out of step with the majority. I had hoped Series 9 would have seen Capaldi given a fresh start and his own companion(s)

Since I like Clara yes, I'm happy she's staying for another ride.

I was prepared for her to go though so surprised she wasn't (again not complaining).

I honestly think the production team assumed all viewers would be punching the air at the end of the episode, saying "Yay - more Clara!"

Personally, I was punching the air when she was an old woman. I thought her story was being wrapped up. I honestly think they have misjudged her level of popularity and the viewers' desire to further explore her story. She's the Impossible Girl. That's her story. The 'Danny Pink' romance didn't work (I think) with viewers.

A new companion would have been good. I'm not sure I really care that much about season 9 knowing it's more of the same.

To be fair that's what I did so their assumption (if they had it) were right about me!

I agree ending it with Clara as the old woman wold have been quite nice - a reflection of her goodbye to 11 and that would have been that. S9 starts afresh with Capaldi and new companion, possibly Shona (I'd prefer it to be Ash) and that opens up new avenues for the show and see new sides to 12. That's hardly going to happen though now and as you say, it is basically going to be more of the same.

I found Clara more likeable in S7 even with a quite blank background to her as she seemed more relatable even though she wasn't. S8 just made it worse and showed up Jenna's problems as an actress to me, something which goes against a lot of other people's views I know. Her character was still inconsistently written and to be honest, I'm just fed up of seeing her in the show and her name in the credits. A new start was needed and we're just not getting it...

I imagine many did by the looks of polling on a number of sites & outlets.

If Series 9 has even a whiff of "unresolved issues" or "oooh she might leave soon" between The Doctor & Clara... well I'll write a very angry post about it.

As I've said before, there's a big difference between doctor who fans a general viewers!

Discussing Doctor Who would be a lot easier without the former. Although it wouldn't be on the air, so that would help.

Nobody can speak for either group at large. Always so much hyperbole thrown around. One minute Clara is the saving grace of the show, the next she's dragging the whole series down. Pesky opinions.

I doubt the production team work on the basis that 100% of the audience are going to be overjoyed with 100% of their choices - no matter how smug Moffat's hair looks in interviews.