Jenna Coleman is reportedly set to quit Doctor Who after three years in the TARDIS to front a prestigious new ITV drama.

Coleman will be written out of her role as The Doctor’s intrepid companion Clara Oswald prior to this year’s Christmas special, according to The Mirror.

Her reported departure from Doctor Who apparently coincides with the actress landing a major role, starring as a young Queen Victoria in a new ITV drama with a reported budget of £10m.

Earlier this year, ITV announced it was partnering with novelist Daisy Goodwin and the producers of Poldark for an eight-part series about Queen Victoria’s reign.

Digital Spy has reached out to a spokesperson for Coleman about her Doctor Who future, in addition to contacting ITV about her potential casting in Victoria.

Coleman made a surprise debut in Doctor Who in the 2012 series opener ‘Asylum of the Daleks’, before officially kicking off her stint as The Doctor’s companion later that year in the Christmas special ‘The Snowmen’.

Following a full series with Matt Smith and key involvement in 2013’s 50th anniversary special, Coleman lent stability to Doctor Who when Peter Capaldi took over as The Doctor in summer 2014.

Rumours of a departure for Clara Oswald dogged the sci-fi series through its eighth series, but Coleman surprised viewers last Christmas by revealing that she’d be staying on for the 2015 episodes.

Her character has played a major role in shaping The Doctor’s life, having encountered all of his past incarnations by entering his personal time stream in ‘The Name of the Doctor’.
Clara will be back at The Doctor’s side for a new series beginning this weekend, as the duo face off with classic enemies Missy, the Daleks and the shape-shifting Zygons.

Before the return of Professor River Song this Christmas and an inevitable new companion joining the TARDIS, Capaldi and Coleman will reunite for ‘The Magician’s Apprentice’ on Saturday (September 19) on BBC One in the UK and BBC America in the US.

News Source: Digital Spy