Skip to main contentSkip to footer

Jenna Coleman on leaving 'Dr Who': 'I got emotional'

Share this:

Jenna Coleman has talked about filming her final scenes as assistant Clara Oswald in Doctor Who.The 29-year-old actress was interviewed on Radio One after it was revealed that she was leaving to play Queen Victoria in a new eight-part series.

She told presenter Nick Grimshaw that she would miss co-star Peter Capaldi. "I did get emotional. I was really trying to fight against it but you can’t help it," she said. "It’s been my life, really, for the last three, four years. And I just love Peter [Capaldi] so much and the job so much and all the crew."

jenna coleman © Photo: Rex

Jenna Coleman said she'd had a lot of fun on the show

A few mementos found themselves into Jenna's bag after filming wrapped on the ninth series which starts on Saturday.

"I still have a key to the Tardis," she told Nick. "Because I kind of stole it and stole some other bits and pieces... I stole loads! I don’t know if they know yet! As the scenes were counting down at the end of every scene, I was like: I’m having it, having it, taking it."

Jenna said it had been a hard decision to make. "There’s not a lot of jobs where you get to go to work and have a spaceship and an alien is your best mate and also run away from monsters … you kind of think this job is only going to happen once. It’s been so much fun, it’s such a unique beast."

jenna coleman © Photo: Rex

Jenna Coleman has landed a role playing a young Queen Victoria in a new ITV series

In her new role Jenna will play Victoria from the moment she became queen as an 18-year-old in 1837. The £10million ITV drama is by the same producers behind Poldark and is penned by novelist Daisy Goodwin. The actress doesn't have much time to switch gears from riding in a spaceship to being a suitably regal monarch.

She said: "I am about to start work on Queen Victoria. I have four weeks to become a Queen! I need to learn to ride a horse. I need to learn to waltz, play Beethoven. It’s really fun."