How To Watch The Jetty Online

Watch The Jetty: Synopsis

Still waters run deep in this BBC drama about a detective reckoning with the dark deeds of a Lancashire town. Jenna Coleman, star of The Serpent and ITV’s Victoria, heads up an incredible cast alongside House of the Dragon’s Tom Glynn-Carney, in this multi-layered series that’s part crime thriller, part coming-of-age story, and a bruising examination of sexual morality and memory. Read on below for further details on how to watch The Jetty online, from anywhere and 100% free on BBC iPlayer.

Written and created by Cat Jones (Waterloo Road, Hulu’s Harlots), The Jetty introduces audiences to an “iconic” new detective in the form of Ember Manning (played by Jenna Coleman). She’s as enigmatic as the perpetrators of the crimes she’s looking to solve, a widow with buried secrets of her own, and described by producer Elizabeth Kilgarriff as “complex, funny, and utterly human”.

The detective begins her beat investigating arson at a holiday home in a lakeside Lancashire town. Somehow, the incident turns out to be connected to a missing person’s case from many years ago, one which podcaster Riz (BAFTA-nominee Weruche Opia, I May Destroy You) is researching for her show about "crimes against women and girls." 

As the story unfolds, Manning finds corruption too close for comfort, learns about an illicit “love” triangle between an older man and two underage girls, and even begins to question her past relationship with her now dead husband.

The four-part series has been favorably compared to HBO’s Sharp Objects and the Elizabeth Moss-starring Top of the Lake as well as British crime drama sensation Happy Valley. With critics praising it as not only a top notch thriller, but "an unexpectedly attentive meditation on what it means to move as a woman through a world that is suffused with male violence."

Boasting heightened drama and suspenseful scripts, The Jetty should find fans among audiences the world over. So, get ready for your next BBC drama binge: read the following guide for everything to know about how to watch The Jetty online and from anywhere with a VPN.

Watch The Jetty online in the UK for free

UK viewers can watch The Jetty through the BBC. The show premiered on July 15 on BBC One, with a couple of episodes airing per week for its short 4-episode run. All episodes were also made available to watch on via BBC iPlayer, which is where you can stream The Jetty from start-to-finish now.

BBC iPlayer is available on a number of devices and it’s absolutely FREE to watch. To create a BBC account, all you need is an email address and a UK postcode (e.g. W12 7FW), in addition to a valid TV licence.

As well as The Jetty, you can stream other boxsets. That includes watching A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, This Town, and Blue Lights.

Abroad? Use a VPN using the instructions below to access BBC iPlayer like you would at home.

How to watch The Jetty from anywhere

If you're a UK citizen on vacation or working overseas, you can watch The Jetty and stream every episode just like you would back home.

While BBC iPlayer is for licence fee-paying Brits and blocks access from IP addresses outside of the UK, there's a handy piece of software called a VPN which can change your IP address, allowing you to watch UK TV online by making it look like you're accessing streaming services from any country in the world. 

For example, UK citizens in the States can subscribe to a VPN, join a UK based server and tune into all the programmes on BBC iPlayer from anywhere in the world, just like you would back home.

Step-by-step of using a VPN to unblock:

1. Choose your ideal VPN and install – our go-to recommendation for unblocking is NordVPN, costing from $3.99 a month with its 2-year plan.

2. Connect to a server – for BBC iPlayer, for example, you'll want to connect to a server based in the UK.

3. Go to the stream you wish to access - for The Jetty, head to BBC iPlayer.

How to watch The Jetty online in New Zealand

If you're in New Zealand, you can watch The Jetty on streaming service, Neon. All four episodes are available to stream now.

Plans start from $12.99 a month for its ad-supported plan, or $19.99 a month to go commercial free. You also have the option of saving 16% by getting an annual subscription.

A Brit travelling in New Zealand? Use a VPN to port yourself home and access BBC iPlayer for a free stream of The Jetty.

Can I watch The Jetty online in the US?

There’s no word that The Jetty will have a US release just yet. We do know that BBC Studios is in charge of international distribution. And, given they own the BritBox streaming service, which is the home of other UK exports like Blue Lights, Trigger Point, and The Responder, it’s quite likely that new miniseries The Jetty will show up here too.

Out of the country? Download a VPN to connect to your home service and stream every episode of The Jetty free on BBC iPlayer.

Can I watch The Jetty free online in Australia?

While we're still waiting on a release date for The Jetty in Oz, it's been confirmed that it'll stream on BritBox, the new home for almost all BBC programming Down Under. But for now, if you’re based in Australia, you won’t be able to watch the new BBC drama.

A Brit traveling abroad? Then you’ll be blocked from connecting to regional services like BBC iPlayer. Download a VPN, however, and you can stream content from all your usual platforms from anywhere.

Can I watch The Jetty online in Canada?

Canadians looking to watch The Jetty online are also out of luck. The BBC series is currently only licensed to stream in the UK through the channel’s catch-up service, BBC iPlayer. If and when the show finds a Canadian home, we’ll be sure to update this space.

Currently away from home? A VPN will let you connect to BBC iPlayer and stream every episode of The Jetty free, just like you would at home.

The Jetty Episode Guide And Release Dates

All four episodes were released on BBC iPlayer on Monday, July 15. You'll find the linear BBC One broadcast dates just below:

• Episode 1: Monday, July 15 at 9pm BST
• Episode 2: Tuesday, July 16 at 9pm BST
• Episode 3: Sunday, July 21 at 9pm BST
• Episode 4: Monday, July 22 at 9pm BST

The Jetty Trailer

“There will be no explanation. There will just be reputation,” was a statement Taylor Swift lived by during her Reputation era. Well, that sentiment seems to be manifesting itself again as we look ahead to the potential release of Reputation (Taylor’s Version) and the fact that, with no warning, the pop star premiered “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)" in the teaser for Prime Video's Wilderness. Obviously, this is big news for Swifties because it's the first time we've heard this version of the song, and, obviously, they had A+ reactions. 

How Was ‘Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)’ Debuted?

“Look What You Made Me Do” is a song all about revenge, and it was partially inspired by Arya Stark and Game of Thrones. So, it makes sense that this anthem would be the soundtrack to a show all about what happens after Liv (Jenna Coleman) finds out her partner Will (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) betrayed her, and she’s driven to the point of revenge. 

Over the course of the series, Liv and Will go on a road trip from the Grand Canyon up to the Yosemite, and their trip ends in Las Vegas. As the synopsis states, Will sees this as “a chance to make amends.” However, for Liv “it’s a very different prospect – a landscape where accidents happen all the time. The perfect place for revenge.” So, basically, “Look What You Made Me Do” is the ideal song to communicate the overall tone of the show, and why Liv feels the need to get revenge. 

Swifties Are Freaking Out Over ‘Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)’

Obviously, the Swifties lost it when they got their first peek at the hit song off of Reputation (Taylor’s Version). They were screaming. They were crying. And I think it’s safe to say they’re ready for Wilderness, because many posted about their excitement for not only the song but this thriller as well. Take @viciousloverr for example, who posted:

Over on Instagram the comments also popped off, as fans commented things like this: 

Many fans also pointed out how our first snippet of “Delicate (Taylor’s Version)” premiered on The Summer I Turned Pretty recently, and they've been loving all these teases through Prime Video shows. I think this fan’s comment gets that point across perfectly:

A fan on Twitter had a similar thought too, as @longIvenini posted:

Along the same lines on Instagram, other fans made the claim that with so many (Taylor’s Version) songs in their shows, this streamer is officially a certified Taylor Swift fan:

Some other incredible comments about the use of “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)” include:

• there will be no explanation 😱🐍 -raffimsyarif 
• (TAYLORS VERSION) screaming, crying, throwing up. punch me in the face -thatgirlhayley 
• Prime Video collecting the taylor's versions like its nothing😍 -anatearsricochet 
• prime is slaying so hard with rep tv -cris13.jpg 

While 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is up next on Swift’s list of upcoming projects, these teases have me hoping Reputation (Taylor’s Version) might not be far behind it. She loves an Easter egg, and it seems like Wilderness and our first look at “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)" might be one. Also, the song fits so perfectly with the new Prime Video show, it also totally makes sense that the “Getaway Car” singer would want her song as the soundtrack to it. 

It’s only a matter of time before we find out what exactly Jenna Coleman’s Liv has planned and if more (Taylor’s Version) songs will be used in the thriller Wilderness, because it’s set to premiere on the 2023 TV schedule on September 15. So, make sure your Amazon Prime subscription is in order so you are ready to see how “Look What You Made Me Do (Taylor’s Version)” manifests itself in what looks like a chilling thriller all about revenge. 

Following her brief appearances as Oswin Oswald and Clara Oswin Oswald in “Asylum of the Daleks” and “The Snowmen,” respectively, 2013 saw Jenna Coleman officially debuting on Doctor Who as the main Clara Oswald, starting off as the Eleventh Doctor’s companion and continuing on for much of the Twelfth Doctor’s run. Coleman ultimately departed Doctor Who in the Season 9 finale, titled “Hell Bent,” but seven years after that emotional exit, it’s been announced that Doctor Who has a new Clara-centric adventure on the way.

For those of you who enjoyed Clara Oswald’s dynamic with Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor, you’re in luck, as the upcoming novel Doctor Who: Rebellion on Treasure Island, written by Bali Rai and hailing from Penguin, is set during that period. As the title indicates, this novel due out on June 22, 2023 crosses over with the Robert Louis Stevenson classic Treasure Island, which was first published in book form in 1883. 

The Doctor and Clara are summoned to 1700s Plymouth to investigate a mysterious thievery from the Crown of King George. This takes them to a remote island where not only is light shed on this theft, but The Doctor discovers that the “spectre of a terrible intellect is afoot.” Along with The Doctor and Clara crossing paths with the pirate captain Long John Silver and a runaway named Janey Hawkins (undoubtedly the inspiration for Jim Hawkins), River Song will somehow be thrown into the mix.

While it’s hard to pinpoint exactly when Doctor Who: Rebellion on Treasure Island will take place during the Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald’s time together, the inclusion of River Song could help narrow things down. Although Clara had heard about River Song prior to “The Name of the Doctor,” it wasn’t until that episode that these two came face-to-face, with River’s consciousness post-“Forest of the Dead” being called in to Madame Vastra’s psychic conference call. So that would suggest that the events of Rebellion on Treasure Island take place post-Season 7, pre-“Day of the Doctor” or “The Time of the Doctor,” the latter of which saw the Eleventh Doctor regenerate into the Twelfth. However, if Clara and River don’t actually see each other in this new novel, then we’re back to working within a wider span of time. 

In any case, Doctor Who fans who enjoyed when Jenna Coleman was on the show will have an opportunity to experience a new adventure with Clara Oswald come next summer. Of course, this is a Clara who’s a long ways from dying in Season 9’s “Face the Raven,” and although Clara was later pulled moments from perishing in “Hell Bent” and was last seen getting ready to travel the universe with Maisie Williams’ Ashildr, we know that eventually she has to return to the spot where she meets her demise. Coleman also cameoed as a mental manifestation of Clara in 2017’s “Twice Upon a Time,” Peter Capaldi’s final episode as the Twelfth Doctor.

Along with Doctor Who: Rebellion on Treasure Island coming out next summer, the following November will see the three Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials airing exclusively to Disney+ subscribers stateside, with David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor reuniting with Catherine Tate’s Donne Noble and confronting a mysterious villain played by Neil Patrick Harris. After that, Ncuti Gatwa will take over as the Fifteenth Doctor and start adventuring across time and space in the TARDIS with his companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson.

As is the case with any adaptation of a preexisting work, The Sandman TV series, which can be streamed with a Netflix subscription, made some tweaks to the original stories penned by Neil Gaiman. Among them was occult detective John Constantine being turned into Johanna Constantine, with Doctor Who alum Jenna Coleman pulling double duty as both her and her same-named ancestor from the 18th century. Speaking of Constantine, it was recently announced that Keanu Reeves will reprise his version of John Constantine, and Coleman had a delightful reaction to this piece of DC movies news.

In case you missed the announcement in September, Keanu Reeves will re-team with Constantine director Francis Lawrence for a sequel being written by Akira Goldsman. Reeves was the first actor to play John Constantine in live action, and two years after we learned Reeves and Lawrence were both up for tackling Constantine 2, now it’s happening! While being interviewed by THR, Jenna Coleman was asked about how it felt for her to “be sort of related” in a Constantine capacity and taking over the role in a sense, and she responded:

Aside from being a woman, the present-day Johanna Constantine basically filled the same role in The Sandman TV series that John Constantine did in the original Sandman comics. After breaking free from his imprisonment at the hands of the Burgess family, Tom Sturridge’s Morpheus sought Constantine’s help with retrieving his pouch of mystical sand from her ex-girlfriend, and prior to that, we got to see Constantine put her magic to good use combating a demon. So yeah, Jenna Coleman is certainly within her rights to boast that she’s “basically” Keanu Reeves, which now has me wondering how she’d do playing a Neo or John Wick-like character. 

The news about Constantine 2 followed a little over a month after The Sandman premiered on Netflix, so it’s certainly been a good time to be a Constantine fan lately. When Jenna Coleman was asked if she thought it was a “coincidence” that Warner Bros. confirmed Constantine 2 is moving forward shortly after The Sandman’s arrival, the actress said:

While Jenna Coleman’s performance has certainly helped with boosting Constantine’s profile, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Matt Ryan’s played a big role with that too. After leading the short-lived Constantine TV series on NBC, he went on to reprise the character in The CW’s Arrowverse, as well as voice him in various animated projects. However, Ryan’s time as a live-action John Constantine appears to be over following the character’s exit in the Legends of Tomorrow Season 6 finale and the overall winding down of the main Arrowverse continuity. Between that and HBO Max passing a new Constantine series (which was going to star a person of color in the lead role), Coleman is now the leading figure in the TV/streaming front. 

That said, even if The Sandman is renewed for a second season (Neil Gaiman has explained why that hasn’t happened yet), it’s unclear if Jenna Coleman will reprise the present-day Johanna Constantine, though as Sandman comics readers know, there’s more to story to tell for the 18th century Johanna. There’s also been calls from fans for Johanna Constantine to get a spinoff show, so if that happens, or if we get any significant update on the main show, CinemaBlend will pass along the big news.

After years and years and years of anticipation, Netflix finally released the adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s seminal work The Sandman to the world. The show about the King of Dreams swept us away on a journey through consciousness and unconsciousness, and to realms all across The Sandman universe. It also introduced us to the personifications of Death and Desire as well as the ruler of Hell, Lucifer Morningstar. 

The Sandman has its naysayers, but the overwhelming response to the show has been positive, with some saying it’s the greatest adaptation they’ve ever seen. While some major casting changes have been praised by many, like hiring Kirby Howell-Baptiste to play Death, there are some trolls who don’t seem to like these new versions of the characters. Well, Neil Gaiman posted an epic clap back on Twitter saying: 

Gaiman got them with that one, so much so that he asked if it was too much. The people of Twitter agree with him though. There was a consensus that this person deserved Gaiman’s comeback. @NerdvanaCTG responded with “Not far enough, I’d say…” and @touchthesun responded with “Nailed it. No notes.” Others thanked Gaiman for dealing with “trolls and racist haters.” 

The user who was angry about the casting was mostly fed up with Howell-Baptiste’s casting as Death. In the comics Death is a white woman, and she is a Black woman and in the show. However, Howell-Baptiste has had one of the most praised performances in the show. Gaiman has talked about his love for Death at length, saying her performance in Episode 6 (IYKYK) had the biggest payoff and made him cry. 

The Sandman has been praised for its active work to diversify its cast and change parts of the comic book to be more inclusive and representative. Along with Howell-Baptiste’s performance, some of the other characters receiving the acclaim are the characters that don’t match the original gender or race of their comic book predecessor. Gwendoline Christie is the show’s Lucifer Morningstar, a character normally portrayed by a man. 

Coming off of her iconic role in Game of Thrones, she continued to steal every scene in The Sandman. Her casting caused a lot of buzz and now she is receiving all the praise. Jenna Coleman has also spoken gleefully about her take on Johanna Constantine (who is John Constantine in the comics) and how refreshing it was for her to take on such a distinct character. 

While Season 2 has not been confirmed, Gaiman has responded, saying since it’s such an expensive show that Netflix needs to wait and see how it performs long-term and whether it will rank as one of the best shows to binge on Netflix. It can be expected that the casting of Delirium, Dream’s youngest sibling, will live up to the high and inclusive bar set by Season 1. 

The cast of Neil Gaiman’s “The Sandman,” including Tom Sturridge (Dream/Morpheus/The Sandman), Gwendoline Christie (Lucifer Morningstar), Stephen Fry (Gilbert), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Death), Jenna Coleman (Johanna Constantine), Vivienne Acheampong (Lucienne), Vanesu Samunyai (Rose Walker), Allan Heinberg (showrunner) and Gaiman himself, joined CinemaBlend to discuss the masterful adaptation on Netflix. Watch as they discuss the incredible set pieces, translating characters from page to screen, the scenes that made the comic creator cry, and so much more.

Video Chapters: 

00:00 - Intro

00:32 - Tom Sturridge Explains The Most Common Misconception About Dream

01:36 - Jenna Coleman Compares Working On ‘The Sandman’ To ‘Doctor Who’

02:54 - Why Stephen Fry Didn’t Hesitate To Say Yes To Joining ‘The Sandman’ Cast

03:56 - Creator Neil Gaiman Recounts The Episode That Made Him Cry… Twice

06:19 - Kirby Howell-Baptiste Explains Why Every Character In ‘The Sandman’ Is Important, No Matter Screen Time

07:08 - Why Gwendoline Christie Loved The Opportunity To Portray Lucifer

08:30 - ‘The Sandman’ Cast’s Favorite Sets To Work On During Production

11:12 - Outro

During The Sandman’s journey toward its Netflix debut, fans not only learned that Game of Thrones vet Gwendoline Christie was taking on the role of Lucifer in a way that is completely distanced from Tom Ellis’ titular TV role, but that former Doctor Who star Jenna Coleman would deliver her own gender-swapped role in the streaming fantasy series. Coleman portrayed the role of Johanna Constantine, both as the present-day comic book occultist and her 18th-century ancestry, which had previously been portrayed in live-action by Keanu Reeves on film, and by Matt Ryan for the small screen’s Arrowverse. And you better believe she was extremely pumped to get the opportunity to play a character outside of her traditional wheelhouse.

Ahead of Netflix subscribers digging into The Sandman, which has been at #1 on the streaming service’s most-watched shows ever since, CinemaBlend and other press spoke with the gothic fantasy’s star Jenna Coleman, who sat alongside the aforementioned Gwendoline Christie and fellow co-star Kirby Howell-Baptiste. When I asked the actress how joining this highly anticipated adaptation as Johanna Constantine compared to all things Doctor Who, Coleman had nothing but happy and positive things to say. Here’s how she started off, as seen in the video above:

Though it’s not clear if Jenna Coleman would have been just as excited to join The Sandman if Neil Gaiman hadn’t been so involved in co-developing the meticulous adaptation, we thankfully don’t need to worry about such hypotheticals, since his fingerprints are all over the whimsical ten-episode series. One of the bigger changes that Gaiman and showrunner Allan Heinberg (as well as EP David S. Goyer) made from the comic book source material was John Constantine becoming Johanna Constantine, and though it was mildly surprising that it happened, it’s easy to understand why. Not only did it give The Sandman an opportunity to stand apart from previous live-action takes on the Hellblazer grump, but it also gave Jenna Coleman more chances to shine within this fantastical universe.

The Sandman’s narrative flow intentionally takes Tom Sturridge’s Dream on a location-jaunting journey throughout the course of Season 1, as it goes in the comic, which meant fans didn’t get a huge abundance of Johanna Constantine. But what’s there is worth savoring, both for viewers and for Jenna Coleman herself, who spoke further about why she dug the roles so much.

The way she talks about the character, it seems clear Jenna Coleman took the time to figure out what made John Constantine tick, and how that would work with a different kind of energy. (Although with the same bi-friendly vibes as the male version of the DC character.) And just as clear is how much of a hoot it was for Coleman to play.

Johanna Constantine definitely held her own in the annals of Constantine performances, though the only version that Jenna Coleman was familiar with going into The Sandman was Keanu Reeves’ film. Elsewhere in the interview, she and Christie were asked about their engagement with previous iterations of their characters, to which Coleman said:

Interestingly enough, former Legends of Tomorrow star Matt Ryan, whose Constantine was written off of the show ahead of its final season, actually reprised the role in animated form for the latest episode of HBO Max’s Harley Quinn, after having voiced the detective in both features and TV projects over the years. Will Jenna Coleman’s version live on beyond The Sandman? One can only…dream. (Sorry, I had to.)

The Sandman is currently available to stream in full on Netflix, with hopes for a Season 2 renewal presumably strong within most people who’ve watched. While waiting, head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what other new and returning shows are on the way.

It almost feels just as surreal as Neil Gaiman’s own seminal writing style to say that Netflix’s series adaptation of his popular comic, The Sandman is finally here after the story spent many, many years waiting for a screen adaptation. The titular “master of dreams” from one of the most fervently anticipated new DC TV shows is easily the biggest role to date for actor Tom Sturridge, whose previous work might be unfamiliar to some fans. If you are such a fan, allow us to clue you in to where else you might know him from, along with the rest of the Sandman cast.

Tom Sturridge (Dream)

Playing Dream — the lead “hero” of The Sandman — is Tom Sturridge’s second Netflix gig after appearing in 2019’s strange mystery thriller Velvet Buzzsaw, which was a bit of a departure from his many Victorian dramas and period pieces, such as his first movie: 2004’s Vanity Fair. The British actor made his screen acting debut in a 1996 miniseries adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels and more recently starred on the Starz drama, Sweetbitter, with Ella Purnell and in HBO Max’s Irma Vep miniseries with Alicia Virkander.

Patton Oswalt (Matthew The Raven)

As Dream’s trusted, winged companion, Matthew the Raven, we have Patton Oswalt, who first broke out on the King of Queens and is also known for various voice acting credits — such as Remy in Pixar’s Oscar-winning Ratatouille. This is also far from the Emmy-winning comedian’s first time voicing a comic book character, having played the title role of Hulu’s M.O.D.O.K., making his MCU debut as Pip the Troll in the Eternals end-credit scene, and personifying The Deep’s gills on The Boys to name just a few of many, many examples.

Boyd Holbrook (The Corinthian)

Also no stranger to comic book adaptations is Logan star Boyd Holbrook as The Sandman’s main villain: a literal living nightmare known as The Corinthian. Outside of playing a shady U.S. Embassy employee in Netflix’s Beckett cast, the actor has played a few heroes — such as on fellow Netflix original Narcos, in sci-fi crime drama In the Shadow of the Moon, and in Robert Rodriguez’s We Can Be Heroes, as well as in the 2018 fourth installment of the Predator movies and the recent, acclaimed horror movie The Cursed. 

David Thewlis (John Dee)

Also a comic book movie veteran (specifically of the DC movies variety) playing another threatening Sandman character named John Dee is Wonder Woman and RED 2 star David Thewlis, who's better known literary fantasy character (out of the many other examples to choose from) is Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter movies. The versatile performer (he has done everything from irreverent comedies like The Big Lebowski to period epics like Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven) previously worked with Netflix for his reunion with Anomalisa creator Charlie Kaufman on I’m Thinking of Ending Things, as well as the animated comedy, Big Mouth, and its spin-off, Human Resources.

Gwendoline Christie (Lucifer)

As the ruler of Hell, Lucifer, we have Gwendoline Christie — which seems like an inspired choice considering her great performance as Captain Phasma in the Star Wars movies, although this devil is not inherently evil and even something of a charmer. The British actor’s other literary adaptations include HBO’s Game of Thrones as Brienne of Tarth, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 2 as Commander Lyme and The Personal History of David Copperfield as Jane Murdstone, most recently.

Charles Dance (Roderick Burgess)

Gwendoline Christie’s fellow former Game of Thrones cast member, Charles Dance, plays Dream’s accidental captor and scheming magician Roderick Burgess, which is far from the English, Emmy-nominated thespian’s first villain role. The Imitation Game star took on Arnold Schwarzenegger in underrated ‘90s action-comedy, Last Action Hero, tried to release hellish beasts onto the world in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and embodied ruthless media tycoon William Randolph Hearst in David Fincher’s Mank, to name a notable few. 

Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Death)

Instead of Dream, Roderick Burgess initially intended to trap his sister, Death — portrayed in The Sandman by Kirby Howell-Baptiste, who is known for her recurring role on a show all about death called The Good Place, as well as other morbidly funny titles like HBO’s Barry, Killing Eve on AMC, and the holiday horror comedy, Silent Night. The English Cruella cast member’s previous collaborations with Netflix include Paul Rust’s romantic dramedy, Love, and the animated series, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.

Jenna Coleman (Johanna Constantine)

As the adventurous Johanna Constantine (an ancestor of detective/sorcerer John Constantine), we have Jenna Coleman, who made her feature film debut in a comic book adaptation: 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, as Bucky Barnes’ Stark Expo date, Connie. In addition to playing Clara Oswald on Doctor Who or appearing in the modern-day romance, Me Before You, in 2016, Victorian period dramas — such as PBS’s Victoria, in which she plays the royal title role — are typically the British actor’s bread and butter.

Vivienne Acheampong (Lucienne)

A librarian in charge of guarding Dream’s realm named Lucienne is played by Vivienne Acheampong, who already has a few notable fantasy titles under her belt — such as an episode of British sci-fi comedy, The Aliens, a 2018 edition of the World of Warcraft video games, and Robert Zemeckis’ remake of The Witches for HBO Max. She also debuted in the 2015 horror comedy movie, The Trap, starred on British sketch comedy series Famalam, and her last Netflix original series was the 2021 UK import, The One. 

Mason Alexander Park (Desire)

As the physical embodiment of Desire and another one of Dream’s siblings, we have Mason Alexander Park, who is already a very accomplished name in the world of theater after playing the title role in Hedwig and the Angry Inch and their award-winning performance in a 2019 production of Cabaret. Following their breakout screen acting role on Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop series and lending their voice Amazon Prime’s The Legend of Vox Machina, Park can also be seen on NBC’s Quantum Leap revival in 2022.

Donna Preston (Despair)

As Desire’s very different twin, Despair, we have Donna Preston, who has the interesting reputation of appearing briefly in numerous action comedies — namely, and most notably, The Brothers Grimsby and The Hitman’s Bodyguard. The British writer and comedian also has a starring role on Netflix’s UK-based sitcom, Hard Cell, and can say she is a part of the Wizarding World following an uncredited role as a circus performer in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

Sanjeev Bhaskar (Cain)

As Biblical figure and world’s first murderer, Cain — who now loyally resides in the dream realm — we have Sanjeev Bhaskar, whose last time starring in a Neil Gaiman adaptation was on an episode Amazon Prime’s Good Omens in 2019. The British actor’s best-known film credits include playing Hamish Patel’s father in 2019's Yesterday, as well as brief roles in the romantic comedy classic Notting Hill, the Simon Pegg-led fantasy comedy Absolutely Anything, and the universally beloved family film, Paddington 2.

Asim Chaudhry (Abel)

As Biblical figure and world’s first murder victim, Abel — also a loyal dream realm resident — we have Asim Chaudhry, who actually has a few credits in common with his onscreen brother, Sanjeev Bhaskar, including the first Paddington movie and the comedic Peacock exclusive crime series, Hitmen. The UK actor’s first comic book adaptation was Wonder Woman 1984, after previously working on the Netflix interactive movie, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, in 2019.

Vanesu Samunyai (Rose Walker)

As Rose Walker — a young woman who discovers she has a mysterious connection to Dream while searching for her missing brother — we have Vanesu Samunyai. Sometimes also known by her Korean name, Kyo Ra, the English-born actor of Zimbabwean descent is making her debut in Netflix’s The Sandman cast. 

Razane Jammal (Lyta Hall)

Playing Rose’s friend Lyta Hall, who is also mourning the death of her husband, is Razane Jammal, who last starred on a supernatural, Netflix-exclusive drama called Paranormal in 2020. The British-Lebanese actor and model also previously starred alongside Boyd Holbrook in A Walk Among the Tombstones in 2014 and, the previous year, worked with legendary horror director Tobe Hooper on the film Djinn.

Stephen Fry (Gilbert)

Rose Walker’s protector, Gilbert, is played by Stephen Fry, whose last DC adaptation was 2005’s V for Vendetta, which was one of his many notable literary adaptations — such as The Hobbit movies, Disney’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, and 2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows as the titular detective’s brother, Mycroft. The British comedy legend (once part of a duo with Hugh Laurie) is also known for classic movies like A Fish Called Wanda, hilarious British comedy series like Blackadder from star and co-creator Rowan Atkinson, and last worked with Netflix on the hit coming-of-age romance, Heartstopper.   

Sandra James-Young (Unity Kincaid)

As Unity Kincaid, Rose’s benefactor awakened after a century-long slumber, we have Sandra James-Young, who made her acting debut in the romantic 1994 crime thriller, Captives, alongside Tim Roth and Julia Ormond before leading an impressive career on TV. Some of her notable small screen credits include long-running British soap operas like Coronation Street, Doctors, and EastEnders, as well as another series based on a popular literary fantasy called His Dark Materials, on HBO.

Joely Richardson (Ethel Cripps)

As Ethel Cripps, the lover of Roderick Burgess and mother of John Dee, we have Joely Richardson — a celebrated British actor who's making her comic book adaptation debut with The Sandman, which is surprising considering her multi-faceted repertoire. Most audiences might remember her best from 1996’s live-action 101 Dalmatians movie, Roland Emmerich’s epic period piece The Patriot, playing Julia McNamara in the Nip/Tuck cast, and the 2020 adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s Color Out of Space, with Nicolas Cage, to name a few.

Niamh Walsh (Young Ethel Cripps)

Playing Ethel Cripps’ younger self is Niamh Walsh — another Neil Gaiman adaptation veteran, having played Greta Kleinschmidt on Good Omens and voiced Nuala on a podcast drama also based on The Sandman. The Australian actor’s other notable TV credits include the long-running British medical drama Holby City, the historical drama Jamestown, the Netflix exclusive sports miniseries The English Game, and the Peacock exclusive mystery thriller Smother.

I cannot remember the last time we saw a TV series ensemble this large. However, with this many characters involved, you can be sure there is never a dull moment to this iconic fantasy story. See how Netflix’s The Sandman cast pulls it off by streaming Season 1 now.

There are actors like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and even Jermey Renner who will always be remembered for their roles in various Marvel movies, but there also actors who either appeared in early Marvel Cinematic Universe titles or showed up before they were big stars who tend to be forgotten. Take Ty Burrell, for example, who showed up as Betty Ross' boyfriend in 2008's The Incredible Hulk just one year before he became a major star on ABC's Modern Family. 

If Edward Norton's Hulk movie would have switched places with Iron Man 2, we all probably would remember Burrell in the same way we remember Terrence Howard in the first Iron Man solo film, but instead, his performance is often forgotten.

But Ty Burrell isn't alone. In fact, there have been more than a dozen (and counting) famous actors whose Marvel appearances aren't all that remembered, which is insane considering the names of some of these film and television stars. Actors like Kate Mara, Powers Boothe, and even Bill and Ted Face the Music's William Sadler have all shown up in Marvel movies over the past 12 years, so I thought it would be fun to explore some of the most notable bit roles, cameos, and other appearances up through Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Ty Burrell - The Incredible Hulk

When Ty Burrell showed up as Betty Ross' (Liv Tyler) boyfriend, Leonard Samson, in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, he was mostly known as the rich jerk from Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake and not the lovable Phil Dunphy on Modern Family. Burrell's character doesn't really do much outside of make Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) jealous and tip off Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross of Banner's return from exile. It's just a bummer we never got to see how the character would have been expanded if the second movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe got a sequel of its own.

Tim Blake Nelson - The Incredible Hulk

Tim Blake Nelson's transformation from cellular biologist Samuel Sterns to Leader near the end of The Incredible Hulk was one of the most exciting moments in the 2008 summer blockbuster, but just like Ty Burrell's Leonard Samson, the character was never seen again. Unlike Burrell, however, Nelson was already an established star at the time of his first and only Marvel appearance, having shown up in The Thin Red Line, Minority Report, and a little movie called O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

Peter Billingsley - Iron Man, Spider-Man: Far From Home

Remember Ralph Parker from the 1983 holiday classic A Christmas Story? Well, Peter Billingsley, the actor behind the role, is all grown up now and has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe twice at this point. His first appearance can be seen in Iron Man as Stark Industries scientist William Ginter Riva who is on the receiving end of Obadiah Stain's (Jeff Bridges) epic "with a bunch of scraps" rant about Tony Stark, and then again as the same character in 2019's Spider-Man: Far From Home amazing Mysterio reveal scene. Billingsley is a long-time collaborator of Jon Favreau, having appeared in and produced a number of the director's films, including Iron Man.

Kate Mara - Iron Man 2

You might think that Kate Mara's only appearance in a movie based on a Marvel Comics property came in 2015's Fantastic Four, but the star of the box office and critical failure showed up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe five years earlier in bit role as process server for the U.S. Marshals serving Tony Stark a subpoena to appear before the U.S. Senate in Iron Man 2. 

Mara had already appeared in the children's superhero comedy Zoom, We Are Marshall, and 24 by the time she was cast in Jon Favreau's second Iron Man movie, but she was still a few years out from finding success with American Horror Story: Murder House, House of Cards, and The Martian.

Natalie Dormer - Captain America: The First Avenger

Natalie Dormer is probably best known for her portrayal of Margaery Tyrell on HBO's Game of Thrones, but like just about every face in Hollywood, the British actress made a brief, yet important appearance in 2011's Captain America: The First Avenger as Private Lorraine. In the scene, Lorraine grabs Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and pulls him in for a kiss while he awaits the arrival of Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) just as Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) walks by at just the wrong time. 

Natalie Dormer, still a year out from Game of Thrones, was already somewhat established at the time, having appeared as Anne Boleyn on The Tudors in the historical drama's first two seasons.

David Bradley - Captain America: The First Avenger

Natalie Dormer wasn't the only Game of Thrones star to appear in Captain America, as David Bradley, who shocked and disgusted fans of HBO's fantasy series as Walder Frey, showed up as the tower keeper in the opening moments of the 2011 Marvel movie. He's only in the film for a few minutes before he is gunned down by Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) after locating the tesseract. David Bradley had one hell of a 2011 with his final appearance as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter franchise, as well as roles in Game of Thrones, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Jenna Coleman - Captain America: The First Avenger

Jenna Coleman, best known for her portrayal of Clara Oswald on Doctor Who, also made a very brief appearance in Captain America: The First Avenger as Bucky's date, Connie, at the world expo in the film's first act. Even though she had appeared on shows like Emmerdale and Titanic when she was cast in a very small role in the first Captain America adventure, Coleman was still a year out from becoming one of the most well-loved companions on the British science-fiction program.

Harry Dean Stanton - The Avengers

The first Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover film The Avengers had one of the biggest casts at the time of its 2012 release. In addition to the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and Scarlett Johansson, Joss Whedon's epic also featured some great cameos, including one by Harry Dean Stanton. The late character actor is seen in a brief interaction with Bruce Banner (Ruffalo) following the big blowup abroad the Helicarrier. And although short, it's great to see the actor best known for roles in Paris, Texas, Alien, and Escape from New York show up for some comedic relief.

Ashley Johnson - The Avengers

Ashley Johnson shows up briefly at the very end of The Avengers when her character, Beth, is being interviewed about the battle of New York. At first it may seem weird that the the actress who appeared in The Help, What Women Want, and who would later become the voice of Ellie in The Last of Us, would have such a small part, but Johnson's role was trimmed down and most of her scenes ended up being cut from the final draft. This includes her conversation with Steve Rogers, which explains her specially naming Captain America during the interview.

William Sadler - Iron Man 3

William Sadler, who has appeared in everything from The Shawshank Redemption to the Bill & Ted franchise, showed up on more than one occasion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His first appearance came in 2013's Iron Man 3, where he is seen playing President Matthew Ellis during the action-packed kidnapping scene aboard Air Force One. Sadler would reprise the role in a few episodes of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Chris O'Dowd - Thor: The Dark World

Don't feel bad if you forgot that Chris O'Dowd was in 2013's Thor: The Dark World because the British funny man known for his roles from The IT Crowd, Get Shorty, and Bridesmaids even forgot he was in the movie until a 2019 interview with MTV News. O'Dowd showed up briefly as Jane Foster's date, Richard, in the early goings of the second Thor adventure, but I guess not enough for anyone to remember, the actor included.

Sam Neill - Thor: Ragnarok

The great dramatic retelling of "Loki's sacrifice" in the beginning of Thor: Ragnarok is probably best remembered for the performance by Matt Damon as the over-the-top actor portraying the God of Mischief, but acting great Sam Neill is also in there as an Asgardian actor taking on the role of Odin during the play. Neill, who is best known for his portrayal of Alan Grant in Jurassic Park (and the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion), previously worked with Ragnarok director Taika Waititi's Hunt for the Wilderpeople, which explains his brief cameo here.

Those aren't even all of the great actors who have made appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the past 12 years. With the Marvel One-Shots featuring the likes of Lizzy Caplan, Bradley Whitford, and Scoot McNairy, to name a few, as well as cameos from people like Garret Morris in Ant-Man, there are just too many to count. Did this article reveal any of those forgotten stars or did it leave out some that slipped between the cracks? Either way, sound off in the comments below.

For nearly 60 years (including some extended breaks), the BBC science-fiction spectacle Doctor Who has provided some of the most highly regarded and well-versed actors to ever grace television sets around the world. People like Matt Smith, David Tennant and Karen Gillan all became international superstars after they appeared on the global phenomenon. But what are they up to now?

Actually, you could ask that question for any number of the former Doctor Who cast members, whether they played one of the Doctors or their trusty companions. And while it would be ideal to catch up with all of the previous Doctors (the ones who are still alive, that is) and the rest of the cast, there simply isn't enough time in the world or a TARDIS large enough to handle the dozens upon dozens of actors who have taken part in Doctor Who over the years. But that doesn't mean we can't highlight some of the most notable figures from the sci-fi/fantasy show. So without wasting any more time, let's get started, shall we?

Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor)

Perhaps one of the most popular actors to take on the role of The Doctor since the 2005 Doctor Who revival, Matt Smith played the titular from 2010 and 2014 before handing things off to his successor. Since leaving the BBC series, Smith has gone on to have a successful career on television with his turn as Prince Philip on Netflix's The Crown, as well as on stage with Lungs. The English actor has two major film projects set to hit theaters in 2021: the Marvel movie Morbius and Edgar Wright's next feature Last Night In Soho, both of which had their releases delayed in the last several months.

David Tennant (Tenth Doctor)

Despite handing of the role of The Doctor to Matt Smith in 2010, David Tennant has remained attached to the franchise in a number of ways since then. He appeared in the 2013 special The Day of the Doctor alongside several other incarnations of the iconic character, as well as in several Doctor Who radio dramas over the years, with the most recent coming out in 2019. In the years following his departure from the series, Tennant has made a name for himself with his depictions of more villainous roles, like Kilgrave in Jessica Jones and the upcoming Dennis Nilsen biographical miniseries Des, which will follow the Scottish serial killer's reign of terror. Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention his time as Scrooge McDuck on the new DuckTales.

Peter Capaldi (Twelfth Doctor)

Peter Capaldi found himself in the unenviable position of replacing Matt Smith as The Doctor in 2013, a role he would fill until 2017, when he his successor and current Doctor, Jodie Whittaker, joined Doctor Who. A veteran actor of theatre, television and film, Capaldi has continued providing engaging and powerful performances since leaving the BBC series. With appearances in films ranging from the Paddington franchise to The Personal History of David Copperfield, Capaldi has done a little bit of everything. The Scottish actor will next appear in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, but the identity of Capaldi's character has yet to be revealed.

Christopher Eccleston (Ninth Doctor)

Rounding out this first secton section of this list is Christopher Eccleston, who had the distinction of being the first Doctor when the series was brought back to television in 2005. Even though he only served as the Time Lord for 13 episodes before David Tennant stepped in, Eccleston is still fondly remembered for the charm and wit he brought to the role. We still don't know when or if Eccleston will ever return to Doctor Who for a one-off appearance, but the actor who brought the Ninth Doctor to life has remained quite busy in the decade and a half since leaving the series. With appearances on The Leftovers, Thor: The Dark World, and most recently in 2019: A Year in the Life of a Year, Eccleston is busy to say the very least.

Karen Gillan (Amy Pond)

In terms of recent companions, there is arguably none more well-regarded and popular as Karen Gillan's Amy Pond. Since leaving the show in 2012, Gillan has gone on to have one of the most successful careers out of anyone tied to the Doctor Who franchise since its return in 2005. Starting with 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, Gillan has portrayed Thanos' cybernetic daughter Nebula in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. With momentum from her successful MCU run, the Scottish actress has gone on to headline the rebooted Jumanji franchise and will next appear in the female-led assassin film Gunpowder Milkshake, where she will star alongside Lena Headey and Angela Bassett.

Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)

From 2012 to 2015, and briefly popping up again two years later, Jenna Coleman played the Doctor's companion, Clara Oswald, making her the longest-serving character and actor to accompany the time-traveling alien since the show's 2005 revival. Since leaving the BBC program, Coleman has gone on to appear in a number of television series (most notably leading Victoria), stage productions, films and even video games. Coleman's next confirmed project is the upcoming Netflix serial killer drama The Serpent, where she will play Marie-Andrée Leclerc, a known accomplice of the French serial killer Charles Sobhraj.

Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)

Billie Piper primarily appeared on Doctor Who in the first two seasons of the show's 2005 revival, where she played the Ninth and Tenth Doctor's companion, Rose Tyler. Piper would go on to portray the character in a number of specials all the way to 2013, but she has since moved on to shows like Penny Dreadful and Collateral, as well as films like Eternal Beauty and Rare Beasts. In addition to keeping busy with her various acting roles, Piper is politically vocal in her native England, especially when it comes to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness)

Although he has only appeared on a total of 12 episodes of Doctor Who over the years, John Barrowman's portrayal of Captain Jack Harkness remains one of the most popular performances on the long-running series. Captain Jack is so popular in fact that he got his own spinoff series, Torchwood, one year after the character appeared on the 2005 Doctor Who revival. Fans of the series were delighted to see Captain Jack return for "Fugitive of the Judoon" in early 2020, but who knows if Barrowman is back for good. And in addition to his acting (which includes his stint as Malcolm Merlyn on Arrow), Barrowman has quite a successful music career, with his latest album A Fabulous Christmas being released in 2019.

Alex Kingston (River Song)

Alex Kingston has gone on the record stating that she still can't watch the final episode featuring her character River Song, but she isn't against the idea of returning to Doctor Who as the Time Lord's wife one of these days. Since leaving the BBC series, Kingston has remained busy with a number of different projects including Arrow, The Widow and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. The actress is currently on the television series A Discovery of Witches, where she portrays Sarah Bishop, the aunt of the show's main character, Diana Bishop.

Matt Lucas (Nardole)

Matt Lucas came into fame with appearances on shows like Little Britain and Rock Profile, but portraying Nardole on Doctor Who didn't hurt at all. An alien from the far future with some pretty impressive cybernetic implants, Nardole is one the Twelfth Doctor's companions. Since leaving the show in 2017, Lucas has gone on to further his career with notable performances in the 2019 production of Les Misérables, where he portrayed Thénardier. In 2020, the English actor, comedian, and writer was named co-host of The Great British Bake Off.

Pearl Mackie (Bill Potts)

Pearl Mackie's portrayal of Bill Potts, one of the Twelfth Doctor's companions on Doctor Who, is one of the most memorable in recent memory. With an offbeat energy not seen by many of The Doctor's previous companions, Potts was a breath of fresh air. Since leaving the show in 2017, Mackie, who is a singer, actor, and dancer by trade, has continued to have small roles in a number of projects, including the Urban Myths episode about Donald Trump meeting Andy Warhol, as well as the upcoming film Horizon Line, which is currently in production.

Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams)

Arthur Darvill may be known as Rory Williams from his time as the Eleventh Doctor's companion on Doctor Who, but the actor/musician has done much more than that. Darvill appeared on the show from 2010 to 2012, but has since gone on to portray Paul Coates in Broadchurch, Rip Hunter in Legends of Tomorrow, Guy in the 2013 stage production of Once and a number of other roles. In addition to acting, Darvill is also an accomplished musician and was part of the #zoologicalsociety album that was released in early 2020.

Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)

Freema Agyeman first appeared as Torchwood One tech Adeola Oshodi in the 2006 episode "Army of Ghosts," but would go on to play the character's cousin and the Doctor's companion Martha Jones after Adeola's death. Agyeman would remain on the show through 2010, during which time she also appeared in three episodes of the Torchwood spinoff series. The English actress then focussed her time on Law and Order: UK, The Carried Diaries, and Sense8 over the following decade. She is currently on the main cast of the medical drama New Amsterdam, where she portrays Dr. Helen Sharpe. And no one ever truly leaves Doctor Who as Agyeman recently appeared in the Torchwood: Dissected audio drama.

Catherine Tate (Donna Noble)

English actress, comedian, and writer Catherine Tate appeared on Doctor Who from 2006 to 2010 during which time she portrayed Donna Noble, one of the many companions of the Tenth Doctor. Initially terrified by the time-traveling Doctor, Donna quickly became one of the Time Lord's most trusted companions. After leaving Doctor Who in 2010, Tate jumped over to The Office where she became one of the show's stars until its 2013 finale. In addition to that, Tate has produced her own stage show, The Catherine Tate Show: Live! as well as voicing Magica De Spell in the 2017 DuckTales reboot.

Noel Clarke (Mickey Smith)

And then there is Noel Clarke, who portrayed Mickey Smith on Doctor Who from 2005 to 2010. Introduced as Rose Tyler's (Billie Piper) boyfriend, Mickey later became a companion of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors before Clarke left the franchise. Since then, Clarke has gone on to take on a number of roles in television and film, including Parenthood, an ongoing project in which the actor also serves as writer and director, and Star Trek Into Darkness.

Those are just a few of the former Doctor Who cast members. Like I said at the beginning, this list could have been much longer and included literally dozens upon dozens of actors, but maybe there'll be time for that in the future.

A television and pop culture fixture since its debut in 1963, Doctor Who has seen a lot of cast departures in its long and involved history. It’s natural, with Companions and Doctors all having various reasons for deciding to step out of the TARDIS and into the history books. With a huge span between 1989 and 2005 during which the show wasn’t running (save for a TV movie in 1996), there’s a lot of history to cover if you’re a fan of the series that helped make David Tennant and Matt Smith both household names.

For the sake of time, brevity, and the fact that the modern age is what the focus is mostly on with the Doctor Who franchise these days, we’ll be looking at those various departures as they took place throughout the run of Doctor Who that started with 2005’s revival. We’ll going through the different major characters that came and went, their vital characteristics, and ultimately why they left and how they were written off.

All of time and space are waiting, and the starting point in this journey is pretty obvious, as a rather big departure at the end of Season 1 marked the first big shift in Doctor Who history.

Christopher Eccleston (The Ninth Doctor)

Seasons Active: Season 1

The first of the modern Doctor Who Doctors, Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor was a man haunted by his past. The last survivor of the Time War between the Time Lords and the Dalek race, this Doctor did the unthinkable in order to end this horrid conflict. Dour and remorseful, he had a lot to learn about forgiveness and lightening up, but before he departed, he eventually did.

Why The Actor Left: In the early days of Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston was the man who would come to represent the show’s new face for a modern age. Yet, backstage politics weighed him down, and soured his impression of the experience of making the show. Eccleston decided to leave before Season 1 even aired and The BBC, in apparent breach of contract, announced as the show was just starting to air that they had cast David Tennant as the next Doctor.

How The Character Was Written Off: After kissing Rose Tyler to drain a lethal dose of TARDIS radiation from her body, The Ninth Doctor restored the energy to the heart of the TARDIS. Of course, this came at a price, as the Time Lord would have to regenerate for the first time in modern series history. Using his special way of cheating death, The Doctor exploded in cosmic energy, and eventually turned into The Tenth Doctor, ready to take that trip to Barcelona he promised dear Rose.

Billie Piper (Rose Tyler)

Seasons Active: Seasons 1 & 2

A young woman in search of adventure, Rose Tyler met The Doctor by chance. After being saved from the Auton invasion, and being left unemployed in the process, Rose eventually became the companion to The Doctor. Growing from a naïve citizen of Earth to a take-charge sidekick who could hold her own, Rose finally made an impression on The Doctor and they became inseparable. Until, one day, fate tore them apart.

Why The Actor Left: Being one of the stars on a show like Doctor Who is pretty exhausting, particularly given everyone is prone to speculating about what’s going to happen next. As such, Billie Piper found herself overwhelmed by how much the series had taken priority in her life. So by time Season 2 came around, Piper decided to leave the show; just one season in with the new Doctor she’d forever be associated with, David Tennant. Though eventually, Billie Piper did return for a guest spot in Season 4, completing her story in the television series for good.

How The Character Was Written Off: During the Battle of Canary Wharf, where The Daleks and The Cybermen waged all-out war for control of the Earth, The Doctor and Rose closed the dimensional rift that allowed both warring races to cross over into our realm in the first place. Rose was almost sucked into the dimensional void that both aliens were being sent back to, but thanks to an alternate reality version of her father, Pete, Rose was whisked away to a parallel reality that she and The Doctor had visited earlier. Sealed off from our world for good, she was never to see The Doctor again. But a huge event let her return to our world, and when she went back to her home in the alternate universe, she was sent back with a humanoid clone of The Tenth Doctor, who she could live happily ever after with. Though Rose would finally appear as a vision to The War Doctor, in an effort to dissuade him from destroying the Time Lords and the Daleks in "The Day of The Doctor."

Freema Agyeman (Martha Jones)

Seasons Active: Season 3

Before she met The Doctor, Martha Jones was a medical student who had her future mapped out, complete with her loving fiancé and eccentric family. Those are the sorts of things that get thrown out the window when The Doctor came to call, and becoming his companion did take her away from everyone she knew and loved. Though she didn’t mind, as she had a huge crush on The Doctor throughout their time together as Time Lord and Companion.

Why The Actor Left: With The Tenth Doctor and Rose still enduring as one of the most iconic pairs in Doctor Who history, fan reaction wasn’t as abundant when it came to Martha’s turn to shine. Therefore, she was written off after the end of Season 3, with Martha reappearing a couple times toward the end of David Tennant’s run, as well as becoming a character in the second season of the spin-off series Torchwood.

How The Character Was Written Off: After living through an alternate year of human history as a revolutionary fighting The Master, Martha Jones was done traveling through time and space. Accepting The Doctor’s rejection of her romantic advances,and finding herself more confident than ever, she left the TARDIS and struck it out on her own. Martha would later work for Torchwood along with Captain Jack Harkness, and would eventually marry Mickey Smith, Rose Tyler’s ex-boyfriend.

Catherine Tate (Donna Noble)

Seasons Active: Season 4

Before Martha Jones had come into his life, The Tenth Doctor palled around with someone he’d soon meet again in the wake of Martha’s departure. Donna Noble, the “runaway bride," was accidentally intercepted by the TARDIS shortly after The Doctor said goodbye to Rose Tyler for the (supposedly) final time. After fighting the Racnoss Empress on what was supposed to be her wedding day, Donna would develop a nose for unusual goings on,in hopes that she’d meet up with her friend The Doctor yet again.

Why The Actor Left: Donna Noble was always intended to be a one-season companion, per the plans made by then show-unner Russell T. Davies. This moment was shocking, but as most big fissures in Doctor Who history tend to be, it was also planned for.

How The Character Was Written Off: One of the MOST important rules as a Companion is and always will be: Don’t touch anything that contains powers beyond human comprehension;,unless you have permission. Donna Noble, for one brief moment in time, was a human/Time Lord metacrisis, a human being with the powers of perception of a Time Lord. That sort of thing fries a human brain out really quickly, and unfortunately The Doctor had to do something he never wished he’d had to do, which was to wipe Donna’s memories of traveling with him, in order to save her mind. She reappeared briefly in David Tennant’s two-part finale, “The End of Time," but that was the end of Donna’s story, as she married and lived happily ever after, with a fortune won by The Doctor.

John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness)

Seasons Active: Season 1 & Season 3

Dashing, debonair, and willing to bunk down with anyone with a postcode, Captain Jack Harkness was one of Doctor Who’s most iconic recurring characters. Always willing to flirt with Doctor and Companion alike, Jack traveled through time via a time vortex manipulator, and was made pretty much immortal due to Rose Tyler resurrecting him with the power of the TARDIS. This, by some with shaky marriages and/or evil designs against the Earth, was considered a very bad idea.

Why The Actor Left: With Captain Jack Harkness taking a major role in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood, John Barrowman was able to cross over into Doctor Who a couple of times, but was never a terribly huge fixture on the show. When Russell T. Davies left his duties as showrunner, Captain Harkness just wasn’t brought back into the Doctor Who fold. That didn’t stop him from building a fanbase though, and eventually, it came time for Captain Jack to run off into Torchwood history, with that series eventually ending in its televised form in 2011.

How The Character Was Written Off: Much like Martha Jones, Captain Jack Harkness left after he, Martha, and The Doctor unwound a whole year of the planet being under the control of The Master. Doing his usual duties as an agent of time protection and seduction, he went off on more Torchwood adventures, and eventually became The Face of Boe – a mysterious head in a gigantic jar, who had previously assisted The Doctor in his Ninth incarnation, as well as earlier in Season 3.

David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor)

Seasons Active: Seasons 2 – 4

Quite possibly the most popular Doctor of the modern era of Doctor Who, The Tenth Doctor was a burst of energy that lead to Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor, but also carried over some of the dour energy that Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor exhibited. At some points carefree, and at others remorseful, this Doctor was shattered when Rose Tyler left, and took quite a bit of time getting over her departure.

Why The Actor Left: Another party who decided to leave before outstaying their welcome, David Tennant announced his departure from Doctor Who during, out of all places, an awards acceptance speech. After a set of specials rounding out his tenure, Tennant yielded to Matt Smith, and then-showrunner Russell T. Davies ceded his position to writer Steven Moffat.

How The Character Was Written Off: After defeating The Master yet again, The Doctor had to save temporary Companion/grandfather of Donna Noble, Wilfred Mott, by sacrificing a Regeneration. Absorbing a fatal dose of radiation, and freeing Wilf from a glass booth he was trapped in, The Tenth Doctor withheld his Regeneration just long enough to take a farewell tour to see his past companions and other friends. With the final line, “I don’t want to go," Ten exploded into his metamorphosis, wrecking his TARDIS and causing a crash landing.

Karen Gillan (Amy Pond)

Seasons Active: Seasons 5 – 7.1

When The Eleventh Doctor crash-landed onto Earth, Amy Pond was but a young girl. By the time The Doctor returned to check up on her, she was a young woman who had been treated as if she were crazy, talking about a raggedy man with a big blue box. Soon, she learned she wasn’t losing her mind, and would become one of the most iconic companions ever, alongside her eventual husband Rory, and her daughter, Professor River Song.

Why The Actor Left: In choosing what she felt was best for her character, Karen Gillan decided that it was time to leave Amy Pond behind. So in the first half of Season 7, both Amy and her husband Rory were written off. While Gillan would go on to direct her own films, as well as becoming an important part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, she did make one final appearance post-write off, to say goodbye to Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor.

How The Character Was Written Off: After Rory was taken by a Weeping Angel, and sent back into the past at the end of The Angels Take Manhattan, Amy decided to be taken by the same Angel in order to be with Rory. With a tearful goodbye to The Doctor and River Song, Amy was whisked away. She later appeared as a hallucination to The Eleventh Doctor as he regenerated, though she died at the age of 87 after going to live with Rory in the past.

Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams)

Seasons Active: Seasons 5 – 7.1

Rory Williams was, and always had been, in love with Amy Pond. His love for her was stronger than any other romantic pairing outside of The Doctor and his beloved wife, River, and it showed in many forms of heroism that Rory would exhibit over his time as a Companion. If there was one phrase that summed up Rory’s devotion to Amy, it was probably this: “Together, or not at all.”

Why The Actor Left: Amy and Rory were a package deal. Once Karen Gillan decided to leave the show, it was pretty much a given that Arthur Darvill would be written out alongside her. Though Darvill would later meet up with another former Doctor, as he would become a star in future showrunner Chris Chibnall’s popular drama Broadchurch, which just happened to star one David Tennant.

How The Character Was Written Off: After one final adventure into 1930’s New York, alongside The Doctor and his daughter, River Song, Rory was taken by surprise by a Weeping Angel. Sent back into time, Rory lived out his days alongside Amy, and passed at the age of 82.

Matt Smith (The Eleventh Doctor)

Seasons Active: Seasons 5 – 7

After regenerating due to the events of “The End of Time," The Eleventh Doctor made a fresh start in the Doctor Who canon. Matt Smith’s interpretation of the legendary Time Lord was a big ball of fun, with some relatively sad moments sprinkled in here and there. For the most part, Eleven was ready to run into battle when he had to, and he’d usually do so smiling and with perfect hair.

Why The Actor Left: Considering The Doctor was originally intended to be written as an older incarnation when then-showrunner Steven Moffat took over, Matt Smith’s casting was a bit of a surprise for some. But it was a welcome one, as he eventually racked up three seasons of merriment, after which he decided it was time to hang up his bow tie. Moffat originally was going to depart alongside Smith, which may have played a part in the actor’s decision, but ultimately Matt Smith felt his time had come.

How The Character Was Written Off: After aging into an old Time Lord on his supposedly final bow, with a Dalek armada facing him down on Trenzalore, it looked like The Doctor was finished. Thanks to Clara earning him a new regeneration cycle, The Eleventh Doctor used huge bursts of his newfound energy to take out his enemies in spectacular fashion. This gambit came with a cost: Eleven had to regenerate, turning him into The Twelfth Doctor, and scaring the living hell out of Clara, his current companion. Though he would eventually appear one last time, calling Clara from the past to explain how he'd shifted into his latest form, in the Season 8 premiere "Deep Breath."

Alex Kingston (Professor River Song)

Seasons Active: Seasons 4 – 7, Season 9

Starting as an enigmatic love interest, Professor River Song died the first time she met The Doctor. As any time traveler will tell you though, that doesn’t mean you have to stop dating. As their romance would progress through time, their personal timelines never matched up. This was a fact that allowed twists such as Companion Amy Pond being River’s mother to be deployed so skillfully. Bold, smart, and daring, she went from the woman who would kill The Doctor to the person who was his greatest love.

Why The Actor Left: Alex Kingston’s Professor River Song was always written with a limited lifespan on Doctor Who. Eventually, with her appearance in “The Many Husbands of River Song," her arc was fulfilled and her loop was closed. However, knowing the nature of the show, Kingston has stated that if there was an opportunity, she’d love to come back and have some fun with Jodie Whitaker’s Thirteenth Doctor.

How The Character Was Written Off: The first time The Doctor ever laid eyes on her, in his younger David Tennant form, was on River’s last day of life. It was written that the last time River would ever see the Doctor was when she sacrificed herself to save the patrons trapped in the cloud of The Library. But the last time we see her on the series is right before that event, when the Twelfth Doctor takes her on their fateful date at the Singing Towers of Darillium, just before she travels back in time to meet her husband for the first-last time.

Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald)

Seasons Active: Season 7 – 9

Born to save The Doctor, Clara Oswald made her first contact with the iconic Gallifreyan in “Asylum Of The Daleks”, as she was trapped inside of a Dalek consciousness. As it turned out, Clara would enter the timestream of The Doctor’s lifetime to save him at crucial points of each of his incarnation’s lives. She not only traveled with The Eleventh Doctor, but she also ran with his Twelfth iteration as well, serving as the longest-running Companion in the modern era.

Why The Actor Left: Jenna Coleman’s departure from the Doctor Who cast came down to a simple fact: Her contract ran up, and it was mutually decided that she would move on to other things. With an extra year built in for Coleman to wrap the story of Clara properly, the future star of the hit period drama Victoria brought Ms. Oswald’s story to a prompt close.

How The Character Was Written Off: Clara was supposed to die after taking on a death sentence in the episode “Fear The Raven," but thanks to The Twelfth Doctor attempting to cheat her death, she was removed from that moment in time and thus lived against the flow of time. Eventually, things had to be set right, and Clara was sort of reassigned as a Companion to Maisie Williams’ rogue Time Lord, Ashildr. With his memory wiped of Clara, The Doctor went on with his adventures, while Clara travelled the universe with Ashildr. Her last episode was "Twice Upon A Time."

Pearl Mackie (Bill Potts)

Seasons Active: Season 10

A university student who came across The Twelfth Doctor during his time as a professor on Earth, Bill Potts soon learned of the universe’s much weirder and adventurous side as his eventual companion. Serving alongside Nardole, Twelve’s other companion during his final season, Bill would challenge The Doctor in ways others would not dare. She would also suffer one of the worst twists of fate to befall any Companion in the modern era.

Why The Actor Left: As Steven Moffat was leaving as showrunner, there was a change to come in the world of Doctor Who. With his replacement, current showrunner Chris Chibnall, looking to shake things up with the series, he not only hired Jodie Whitaker as the new Doctor, but he also wiped the slate clean in terms of Companions. So alas, Pearl Mackie was a companion no more.

How The Character Was Written Off: Temporarily turned into a Cyberman, Bill Potts rejected the typical programming of one of the most classic adversaries in the Doctor Who canon. She helped The Doctor defeat the cadre of Cybermen in the episode “The Doctor Falls," and ultimately found herself given a choice: to be restored as a Human, or to be transformed into a being who could travel the universe, much like her girlfriend Heather. Choosing the latter, Bill left The Doctor, and began her grand adventure with a reappearance in “Twice Upon A Time” serving as her last Doctor Who appearance.

Matt Lucas (Nardole)

Seasons Active: Seasons 9 & 10

Originally a one-off associate to Professor River Song in “The Husbands of River Song” Christmas special, Matt Lucas’ Nardole eventually became friends with The Twelfth Doctor, and tagged along for the entirety of Season 10, as well as its preceding Christmas Special “The Return of Doctor Mysterio." Tasked with looking after The Doctor after River’s death, Nardole served as a grounding presence with a comedic wit, who would eventually serve along with his co-Companion, Bill Potts.

Why The Actor Left: Much like Amy and Rory, Nardole and Bill were kind of a package deal when it came to their fate in the Doctor Who cast. Since Bill Potts was being scrapped in favor of the new Companion Fam that Thirteen is swanning about with, Matt Lucas was also sent off at the same time Pearl Mackie was written out of the show.

How The Character Was Written Off: As The Doctor prepared to destroy the Cybermen in an attempt to save a ton of humans from being converted, he ordered Nardole to evacuate everyone that he could in the process. Eventually, on another level of the space station base where the Cybermen planned and converted their army, the faithful companion awaited the potential invasion in order to finish the conversion, ready for battle. Thankfully, this was never to be, and Nardole’s memory appeared alongside Clara and Bill’s in “Twice Upon A Time," in order to send The Doctor off in sentimental fashion.

Peter Capaldi (The Twelfth Doctor)

Seasons Active: Seasons 8 – 10

It was predicted The Doctor would eventually become an older man again, and sure enough Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor brought to life a man that Steven Moffat had previously described before he took on the reins as Doctor Who's showrunner. While The Doctor was now a more aged and seasoned version of himself, he wasn’t any less eccentric or battle ready, as Capaldi’s tenure would have some fun flourishes, such as The Doctor’s ability to play the electric guitar.

Why The Actor Left: Between representing the brand of Doctor Who, and his own feelings about not wanting to overstay his welcome, Peter Capaldi left the role of the Twelfth Doctor at the end of Season 10. With his departure, showrunner Steven Moffat also decided it was time to hang it up, and the pair ushered out an era of Doctor Who history that finally built a bridge between the classic era and the modern age of this legendary canon.

How The Character Was Written Off: Defying his Regeneration yet again, The Twelfth Doctor refused to change into his next form. But an adventure with a similiarly defiant First Doctor, and the Christmas Armistice of 1914, changed The Doctor’s mind and allowed him to change into his latest form: the female Thirteenth Doctor.

Throughout the history of Doctor Who, change has always been the constant. Who knows what departures we'll see next, in this newly revitalized era of Jodie Whitaker's Thirteenth Doctor and the many Companions she has banded together in her journeys across time and space. At the very least, we won't know until Doctor Who returns at some point in 2020, with the streaming rights to Seasons 1 - 11 going to HBO Max earlier in that same year.

Jenna Coleman hit the mainstream as a TV star with her role as companion Clara on Doctor Who, who was very much one of the good guys and the #1 ally to not one but two incarnations of the Doctor. Now, however, Coleman is joining a series that will take her in a very different direction than Clara. She has signed on to play the partner and accomplice of a serial killer for the upcoming Netflix/BBC drama called The Serpent.

On The Serpent, Jenna Coleman will play Marie-Andrée Leclerc, who is known for working with and helping the French serial killer Charles Sobhraj. Although Sobhraj isn't the most well-known serial killer, his life and crimes should be plenty to drive the drama. He was the suspect in the murders of up to 20 young travelers in the mid-1970s. He allegedly targeted his victims in India, Thailand, and the "hippie trail" in Nepal.

Charles Sobhraj became the most wanted man on Interpol's list, and earned the nickname of "The Serpent" for his habit of slipping through the grasp of authorities all over the world. He was jailed and convicted for his crimes in India from 1976-1997, then wound up behind bars yet again in 2003, after returning to Nepal and earning himself a life sentence.

Marie-Andrée Leclerc was a tourist-turned-accomplice from Canada who wound up joining Charles Sobhraj as he killed. Considering Jenna Coleman is arguably best known for playing Clara on Doctor Who and Queen Victoria herself in Victoria, I would say that joining The Serpent will allow Coleman to show off a whole new side of her acting range.

The cast of The Serpent is filled out by Tahar Rahim, Billy Howle, and Ellie Bamber, according to Variety. Rahim is on board to play Sobhraj. Howle will play a junior diplomat at the Dutch Embassy in Bangkok by the name of Herman Knippenberg, who fights to bring Sobhraj to justice. Bamber will play Herman Knippenberg's wife. The Serpent will release on the BBC in the United Kingdom and Netflix in the United States and elsewhere.

While The Serpent's premise is certainly something new and the story of Charles Sobhraj hasn't been told time and time again in movies and TV, Netflix is no stranger to serial killer projects. The second season of Mindhunter -- which covered plenty of serial killers on top of the murderers who appeared in Season 1 -- recently released, and may have teased another big serial killer for Season 3.

Another notable serial killer-based project on the streaming giant was the Ted Bundy-centric Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile movie starring Zac Efron, who responded to some concerns about the film. How will The Serpent compare in the grand scheme of Netflix's experiments with serial killer content?

We'll have to wait and see. Netflix hasn't yet released a premiere date for The Serpent, which is unsurprising if the show is still adding key members of the cast. The good news is that there are plenty of viewing options on Netflix now and in the not-too-distant future, including Mindhunter and more projects showcasing some very creepy subject matter.

Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Doctor Who Christmas special! Read at your own risk!

Peter Capaldi gave his final series regular performance as the Doctor on last night's Doctor Who Christmas special, and it was one for the ages. On top of his awesome farewell speech and regeneration, Capaldi's Doctor also got to meet back up with old friend and former companion Clara Oswald. The details as to how are a bit complicated, but ultimately, it meant fans got to see Jenna Coleman in the show once again. While as amazing as it was surprising, it was a cameo that now-former showrunner Steven Moffat was not easy to pull off:

Jenna Coleman's commitment to Victoria was one of the main reasons many Doctor Who fans initially believed the actress wouldn't be able to commit to a return, although rumors still swirled nonetheless that she was going to appear. Turns out those rumors were true, although it was really understated just how many hoops Steven Moffat had to jump through to make it happen. Moffat tells Radio Times Coleman's bit had to be filmed after production had wrapped on the episode "Twice Upon A Time," and then had to be inserted into the Christmas special afterward via special effects. The scene ended up being the final thing Moffat would shoot for the series, so fans can now think of that little extra effort as his send-off gift to fans for years to come.

Steven Moffat's effort of bringing back Clara wasn't just a gift to fans of Doctor Who though, it was also a gift to Doctor Who lore itself. The Testimony drawing upon memories to show her image to the Doctor jump-started his mind and brought back all the memories he had of Clara Oswald that had been previously erased. While the moment didn't suddenly free up Jenna Coleman's acting schedule and make her more available to appear on the series, the fact that the Doctor can now remember her again will certainly make it easier to bring her back in the future should new showrunner Chris Chibnall be able to work anything out for her down the line.

Doctor Who is set to return to BBC America for Season 11 sometime in the fall of 2018. Anyone wishing to see which shows are set to premiere or return in the new year can visit our midseason premiere guide and find out. Those curious as to what shows still haven't premiered yet but are due to before the end of 2017 can see what's left by visiting our fall premiere guide. For a look at which shows got dropped in the past year and a brief explanation as to why visit our cancellation guide.

When a new Doctor is announced for Doctor Who, it's impossible for the show's cast current and former not to be bombarded with questions about the selection. Fans have given their thoughts on Jodie Whittaker becoming the first female Doctor, and now former companion Clara Oswald (a.k.a. actress Jenna Coleman) shared her thoughts on the decision via satellite at the TCA press tour:

Good to know Jenna Coleman is on board, especially given the other rumors that have circled her and Doctor Who lately. Coleman's quote (via Indiewire) gives a boost to the pro-Jodie Whittaker camp and is perhaps a little braver than John Barrowman. Granted, Barrowman didn't say he was against the idea at all, but he did also throw in that the critics were right to be critical as no one truly knows how this new endeavor will play out. Let's hope Coleman's enthusiasm for Whittaker doesn't gain her the ire of any internet trolls who are none too happy that the new Doctor is a woman.

Jenna Coleman is as good an opinion as any to have in the Doctor Who universe since she was there for one of the show's biggest changes since its reboot. Much like there is a camp concerned about the series switching to a female doctor, there was also a concerned camp when the series announced Peter Capaldi to replace Matt Smith considering he's a good 25 years older than the actor playing the Doctor he would replace. There were definitely some differences in interacting with Matt Smith's Doctor and Capaldi's, but ultimately it all worked out and Coleman and Capaldi got along well enough that he even got a bit teary eyed when it was finally time for her to say goodbye.

Some might argue that keeping Clara on for that switch helped ease the change of an older Doctor playing lead again, which may be a problem for Doctor Who as it's been announced recent companion Bill Potts will not return for next season. With a new companion and a new Doctor with a new gender, it definitely sounds like a soft reboot of sorts for the series, which feels appropriate considering Chris Chibnall is stepping in as the new showrunner as well. Whether all this newness will be seen as a welcome change amongst the fans or an outright disaster remains to be seen.

Doctor Who lovers will get their first real taste of Jodie Whittaker as The Doctor when the series airs its Christmas special on December 25th on the BBC. Those who can't wait for that can occupy their time with loads of new shows found on both our summer premiere guide and our brand new fall premiere guide.

Jenna Coleman made a daring move when she left behind her role as companion Clara on the British institution that is Doctor Who, choosing to pursue other projects. Clara was a beloved character by many, and one of the few constants on an ever-changing series, so it was difficult to imagine Coleman could find a more appealing role. Judging by the first look at the actress in her role as a young Queen Victoria in the ITV series Victoria, however, we can safely say that she’s moving onward and upward.

It’s almost hard to believe that the Jenna Coleman who was positively adorable with Clara’s short skirts and smiles is the same woman exuding regality as Queen Victoria. From the looks of things, Coleman is definitely straying outside the sphere of sci-fi for her first major post-Who role. She’ll be joined by Rufus Sewell as Lord Melbourne and Tom Hughes as the eventual Prince Albert.

Given that Queen Victoria was the longest-reigning British monarch until Queen Elizabeth II surpassed her in 2015, there’s no shortage of events for Victoria to cover. After all, the 63 years of her monarchy aren’t known as the “Victorian era” because she accomplished very little. The ITV series will run for eight installments and follow Victoria’s life from her crowning at the age of 18 through to her marriage to Prince Albert, according to Deadline.

The first episode will run for 90 minutes while the subsequent seven will be an hour each. Assuming that Victoria follows the historical timeline of the queen’s ascension to the throne and marriage, the series will chronicle Victoria from the ages of 18 – 20 or so. Considering that Victoria would remain queen until her death in 1901 after a life that included nine children, it would take a lot more than eight episodes (plus some presumably extensive make-up) to follow her entire reign.

Interestingly, one of Clara’s predecessor companions Rose Tyler joined the Doctor on an adventure that saw them saving Queen Victoria from a werewolf in Season 2 of Doctor Who. While it’s distinctly unlikely that Billie Piper and David Tennant will be making cameos in the ITV series, there should definitely be some Who fans hoping to hear Jenna Coleman drop an “I am not amused!” as Victoria. (It’s also unlikely that there will be any werewolves on Victoria). For a look at Jenna Coleman in her latest role, take a look at the first trailer for the series:

We don’t get to see much more than a confident young queen at her coronation, but the trailer is more than enough to guarantee that Victoria will be a gorgeous period piece that can showcase everything Jenna Coleman has to offer as her first non-companion role. Victoria will air on ITV later in 2016, and there’s no reason to be anything but optimistic at this point. Queen Victoria was ready for the great responsibility that lay ahead of her, and it looks like Jenna Coleman is as well.

As Doctor Who continues its season of miracles, the episodes just keep getting better and better. “The Zygon Invasion” proved that last night, as it took the subjects of modern warfare and terrorism and surprisingly explored them in an in-depth manner for a family friendly show. Yet with the surprisingly dark tone of this week's episode, there's one question that stand out as Bonnie – Clara's new Zygon double – is about to shoot down The Doctor's plane, taunting him that his companion and all of U.N.I.T. are dead. That question is, is she telling the truth?

For background, let's go back to when Bonnie, who we still assumed was Clara, leads the U.N.I.T. forces in London to the underground chamber of the Zygons. We learn that there are tons of “pods” there, holding the humans that they have taken the forms of for some reason or another. Once Jac, Clara's companion, for lack of a better term, realizes that the pods aren't Zygon doubles and that Bonnie's order to fire is an act of sabotage, the jig is up and everyone in the room is murdered. This moment is where the question of Clara's existence starts to come into focus.

So the first possibility, which is the most likely, is that Clara isn't dead. While the Zygons don't need to keep the human they're impersonating alive in order to keep their image, we did learn from Osgood that they do need them for more in-depth details – such as memories. Seeing as Bonnie's been palling around with The Doctor since Clara investigated a local disappearance, she would need Clara's memories to suitably fool everyone who knew her. Most importantly, she would need those memories to fool The Doctor, as he would be the first person to notice something was up.

Of course, the other possibility could give us a hint towards how Clara is written off the show. Again, Zygons do not require the original host to maintain their appearance. Seeing as The Doctor spent most of “The Zygon Invasion” away from the erson he thought was Clara, he might not have been around her long enough to realize something was up. So if Bonnie really did kill Clara, along with all of U.N.I.T., odds are The Doctor will somehow take her on as his companion. Now whether it's because he's been fooled / he allows Bonnie to come into his confidence is still up for grabs. But the most likely scenario in this unlikely situation is that The Doctor takes Bonnie as a reminder of Clara / a token of his dedication to peace with the Zygons. Which means that Bonnie would either turn on The Doctor and eventually be dispatched, or would be attacked by someone who learns she's a Zygon.

The fact that we're even asking questions like this after watching “The Zygon Invasion” is proof that the Doctor Who writing staff has found a way to make the show work again. I felt Season 8 was mostly a wash, especially when it came to the squandering of Clara's character, but Season 9 is doing interesting things with her and the rest of the show, again. If you came into Season 9 expecting to cheer on Clara's departure, you hopefully have already reversed that attitude by this time.

We can see what answers next week brings when “The Zygon Inversion” airs on BBC America on Saturdays at 9 p.m. ET.

There’s been a lot of action on the Doctor Who front lately, and a lot of it has to do with the fate of current companion Clara Oswald. Actress Jenna Coleman recently announced she would be leaving the role behind after three seasons, confirming rumors and yet raising a whole slew of new questions. One of the biggest questions has been if Clara’s exit from the series in Season 9 will be permanent. Coleman recently addressed the question by giving a resounding… maybe. Here's what she had to say:

Her unsurprisingly vague response to EW is undoubtedly slightly frustrating for fans looking for spoilers about Clara’s exit, but Doctor Who tends to keep a pretty tight lid on the circumstances of Doctor regenerations and companion departures.

This particular companion’s departure will likely be an emotional one. Following Billie Piper’s Rose with Nine and Ten in the first and second seasons, Jenna Coleman with Eleven and Twelve over the past three seasons has been the only companion to travel with two incarnations of the Doctor and the first of the era of current showrunner Steven Moffat.

There haven’t been too many companions since the 2005 reboot that have made their ultimate exits from the show with an opening to make a return. Although Rose was a bit of a cheat by jumping universe to universe in Season 4 and then popping up (sort-of) in the 50th Anniversary Special after her heartbreaking departure in Season 2, all of the major companions except for Martha have been off limits for the Doctor after the actors made their departures as regular cast members from the show.

If Steven Moffat continues the trend of heartbreaking exits begun by Russell T. Davies in his tenure as showrunner from Seasons 1 – 4 and continued with Moffat's decision to lock Amy and Rory away in the past, Clara may not get the happiest of endings.

Of course, Moffat may decide that it is time to break tradition and leave Clara off with the possibility of a return to the TARDIS. Already known as the “Impossible Girl,” there’s no reason why Clara might not be yet another companion to devastate viewers with the circumstances of her departure. After all, a show about a time-traveling alien who regenerates into a different identity every time he suffers a mortal wound is nothing if not fundamentally fluid.

We can never count on almost anything being permanent in Doctor Who – especially in the era of Moffat, who seems to love bringing characters back from the dead – and Clara’s departure as chief companion to Twelve may be the cheeriest that we’ve seen yet. Jenna Coleman remains coy on the matter, but her willingness to return to the role is a good sign.

Doctor Who is one of the longest-running television series ever produced. Although the stat is a bit of a cheat, as it went off the air for 16 years until being rebooted for the 21st century, the show has been a huge hit among modern audiences. Now, on the eve of the premiere of the ninth season, some major news about the future of the show has been released: Jenna-Louise Coleman will officially be leaving the role of companion Clara behind.

In an interview with the BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Coleman confirmed rumors and spoke of her forthcoming exit from Doctor Who:

Clara has been one of the most notable companions of Nu Who. After Rose Tyler with Nine and Ten, Clara is the only companion to have spent a significant chunk of time with two incarnations of the Doctor, meeting both Eleven and Twelve.

Clara has also been the longest-running companion of the reboot. Companions have stuck around longer under Steven Moffat’s regime as showrunner than under Russell T. Davies from Seasons 1 – 4, but Jenna-Louise Coleman effectively outpaced Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvil’s Amy and Rory with the most episodes under her belt.

Even diehard Who and Clara fans won't be able to begrudge Coleman for her decision to leave, however. She has landed the role as a young Queen Victoria in an ITV series that promises to lead her to bigger and brighter things in the future.

No details have yet been officially released about the circumstances of Clara’s departure, but the odds are not in her favor of her getting a wholly happily-ever-after. With the exception of Martha Jones back in Season 3, no regular companion has left the Doctor without a sequence designed to have audiences sniffling.

Who can forget Rose being trapped in a parallel world? Or Donna having her memories of her time with the Doctor wiped? Or Amy and Rory being swept back in time to live in the first half of the 20th century, unable to have children or communicate with their loved ones in the 21st? A consistent trend that is surprisingly tragic for such a fun show is that being a companion takes a toll, and we can only hope that Clara makes her exit without too much trauma so we can enjoy our time left with her in Season 9.

Doctor Who is set to premiere on Saturday, September 19 at 9 p.m. ET on BBC America.

Just a few days before Doctor Who returns to the schedule, the rumor mill is abounding with news of an impending departure, and you can probably guess who those rumors are about. After months of news regarding the upcoming ninth season of Doctor Who, this week, we’ve learned that Jenna-Louise Coleman, who has played companion Clara on the show for the past few seasons, is once again rumored to be leaving the hit BBC series.

Reports indicate that Coleman has landed a huge gig playing Queen Victoria in an upcoming ITV drama, which could affect her gig on Doctor Who. According to The Mirror, the 8-part series is expected to be a big deal for ITV and for Coleman. She’s apparently kept the role out of the press until now, but will be leaving Doctor Who for the lengthy gig. As Doctor Who is already well into production for Season 9, the actress is already thought to have shot her final scenes on the BBC drama. Of course, the network isn’t currently confirming her exit and this isn’t the first time that Clara has thought about leaving, so the actress’ exit is not official at this point.

Clara rumors have been abounding for more than a season, now. After all, Clara is currently the longest-running companion since the series was brought back to life way back in 2005, so it stands to reason she will leave the show at some point. Last season, just before the Christmas special aired, we learned that Clara’s fate would be determined and the actress might not be back after the special. That didn’t end up being the case.

Of course, the original Clara rumors didn’t come out of nowhere. Back in March, showrunner Steven Moffat revealed that Coleman has been of two minds regarding her Doctor Who gig. The showrunner in fact stated that the actress had asked to be written out twice—most recently during last year’s Christmas special—and later changed her mind, deciding to stay. Both times she was accommodated because Moffat likes Jenna Coleman and the Clara character.

So, this could be another case of Clara waffling, or the rumors could hold true and she could, in fact, be leaving the show. Either way, the unknown is a little bit exciting. If she isn’t being replaced, how will her tenure as longtime companion go? If she is getting written off, who will replace her and how?

We won’t have too much longer to wait to find out. Doctor Who will return to the schedule on Saturday, September 19 at 9 p.m. ET, airing on BBC America in the US. Here’s what we know about the upcoming episodes. In addition, if you’d like to see when the rest of your fall favorites are returning, please check out our fall TV premiere schedule.

The venerable science fiction adventure series Doctor Who has been plugging away on the BBC for more than five decades at this point. While there are hundreds of episodes of television for devoted fans to pore over again and again, Whovians have often wondered about the possibility of a feature film addition to the canon. There’s a simple answer to that question, don’t hold your breath.

At the Television Critics Associate summer press tour, writer, producer, and showrunner Steven Moffat talked to Entertainment Weekly about a variety of topics. Subjects included the role Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams plays next season, how long current Doctor Peter Capaldi will be around, and the movie question. When this came up, Moffat responded:

Moffat sounds pretty adamant that we’re not going to get a Doctor Who movie, and if anyone is in the position to know about such things, it’s probably going to be the guy who is in charge of the series, isn’t it?

It make sense that Moffat and Doctor Who would want to stay away from a movie. They’ve spent years creating a method that works for them. And to be honest, at least with the modern incarnation of the series, with longer episodes and numerous specials like the popular Christmas episodes, they’re not so different from movies. Especially for American audiences, who are used to our "hour-long" shows running around 43 minutes, a 60-minute episode of Doctor Who feels somehow more cinematic. And if you asked diehard fans if they’d rather have one movie or a bunch of episodes, you have to imagine they’d rather have more adventures.

But if you’re absolutely set on seeing Doctor Who on a movie screen, you’ll get your chance in relatively short order. As announced at San Diego Comic-Con a few weeks back, series 9 is set to premiere on September 19. In advance of that, Fathom Events is prepping a special treat for fans on September 15 and 16.

Not only will they show the two-part series 8 finale, "Dark Water" and "Death in Heaven," in 3D at movie theaters, the event will also feature "The Doctor’s Meditation," described as a "prequel scene" to series 9. What exactly that means we’ll have to wait and see, but it’s sure to get fans pumped ahead of the new episodes. In addition to the episodes, there will also be an exclusive interview with series stars Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman, all emceed by long-time fan Wil Wheaton.

Warning: If you haven’t watched the Doctor Who 2014 Christmas Special yet, there are absolutely spoilers ahead!

Whovians have been on quite a roller coaster over the past few months regarding the fate of the Doctor’s current companion, Clara Oswald, and this year’s Christmas special did all that it could to keep that roller coaster going for Clara's fans. After several close calls throughout the episode, the final few minutes revealed that Clara would be returning as the Doctor’s companion for the entirety of Season 9.

Coleman spoke with TVLine about her future as Clara Oswald:

The show’s Doctor/Companion dynamic certainly changed drastically at the beginning of Season 8, after Matt Smith’s sweet and goofy Eleventh Doctor regenerated into Peter Capaldi’s Scottish, angry-eyebrowed, sarcastic Twelfth Doctor. Even though the show hinges on transitions, with the changing Doctor and the changing companions, I am quite glad that we will get another season of Clara in the TARDIS.

Most of part two of Season 7 was focused on Clara being the Doctor’s “Impossible Girl”, being born to save the Doctor. For someone who was so interesting at her introduction in the episode “Asylum of the Daleks”, her freshman season as an official companion was a bit disappointing. However, we were able to leave the Impossible Girl story behind in Season 8, and we got to know Clara as a person and a companion. I was pretty indifferent towards Clara at the end of Season 7, but now I’ve really grown to like her. She's clever, brave, and loving, and is the perfect balance to Twelve’s new, crusty attitude.

Doctor Who certainly has a very different feel with Twelve and Clara versus Eleven and Clara. The awkward sexual tension between the two characters is mercifully gone, and they've finally been able to become brilliant friends. It certainly took Clara some time to figure out who Twelve really was, and who he was in relation to Eleven, but they have just started cultivating a really nice (slightly dysfunctional) friendship. Modern Doctor Who fans haven’t seen a genuine Doctor/Companion friendship since Donna Noble (as there was even sexual tension between the Doctor and Amy Pond). While I love a good romance, the majority of regular companions (Rose, Martha, Amy, and Clara herself during Eleven’s run) have had some kind of romantic entanglement with the Doctor, and I think we’re due for a companion who is just a good mate.

Ultimately, I was very pleased with how the special ended. Clara will be traveling with the Doctor for the whole of Season 9, which is just the best Christmas present from the Doctor Who writers. More than that, I was also thrilled that we didn’t get another incredibly tragic, Christmas-ruining special like we had last year with Matt Smith’s regeneration--though I did notice the nod to Smith’s final episode when Twelve helped old Clara with the Christmas cracker like Clara had helped Eleven when he was very old at Trenzalore. The special was the perfect mix of Christmas fun - Nick Frost was, unsurprisingly, a marvelously perfect Santa - and extraterrestrial adventure with no tragic Doctor/Companion goodbyes.

There isn’t an official premiere date for Season 9 just yet, but filming for the season should begin early next year and will air for American audiences on BBC America. Welcome back, Clara!

It’s been a very busy few days for the folks over at BBC America. The network has made announcements regarding two of its biggest properties in the past 24 hours: a new clone on Orphan Black and a new baddie set to wibble-wobble through time and space on Doctor Who. Our favorite imports are expanding!

First up was the announcement that the Tatiana Maslany-fronted series, Orphan Black would debut a new clone in its upcoming second season. If that sounds weird to you, it shouldn’t. The sci-fi series tells the story of Sarah Manning and the discovery that she — along with several other identical women — are actually clones in an illegal experiment. Maslany plays all of the clones (and if you haven’t seen it, you’re seriously missing out), and will continue to do so with Jennifer Fitzsimmons, a 28-year-old teacher and swim instructor that, like clone Cosima Niehaus, has a very bad respiratory illness.

According to one of the show’s co-creators, Graeme Manson, “Jennifer is a bright-eyed Midwestern pure of heart girl.” But, as other co-creator John Fawcett explains, Jennifer was naïve, “she didn’t know she was a clone, and was being monitored by her boyfriend. She gets sick, and with a kind of the version of the illness that [now-dead clone] Katja had. And of course, a version of the illness that Cosima has. Just that discovery alone is the kind of discovery that shakes Cosima. It really rattles her.” Watch the video below to meet the new clone:

Next up on the announcement tip was the announcement that Keeley Hawes, currently starring in the critically acclaimed BBC police drama Line Of Duty, will play a new villain on Doctor Who’s upcoming eighth season — the first for Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor. This is after the recent announcement that Samuel Anderson would play a new companion named Danny Pink. Ms. Delphox, a powerful out-of-this-world character with a dark secret. (Ominous enough for you?) The Doctor and his companion, Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), come face to face with the mysterious Ms Delphox when they arrive on a strange and puzzling planet. There’s not much to go off of besides that. But we do have a photo!

One thing worth getting excited about is the note that her episode was written by Steve Thompson, who just so happens to have written THE BEST episodes of Who showrunner Steven Moffat’s other popular series, Sherlock.

Of the role, Hawes said: “I am delighted to join Doctor Who and to be working with this incredible team. Ms. Delphox is a great character and someone I’ve had a lot of fun playing.”

Anyone watching Jed Mercurio’s amazing Line Of Duty will know that Keeley Hawes is having one hell of year,” stated Moffat. “And now it’s about to get even better as she achieves the greatest villainy yet attempted on Doctor Who: she plays a banker.”

Orphan Black returns to BBC America on April 19th, while Doctor Who is slated for a late summer/early fall return.

Exciting news, Whovians! Turns out the TARDIS will be built for three in its upcoming eighth season, as actor Samuel Anderson (he of The History Boys and Gavin & Stacey fame) has been tapped to join the cast of Doctor Who. Is this a new companion for the Doctor? A potential love interest for Clara Oswald? A mirroring of the first series of the show? So many questions! Let’s take a look at the facts and suss out some potential answers, shall we?

Anderson has been slated to join Doctor Who as a recurring character during the forthcoming new season. So, not only are we getting a new Doctor in Peter Capaldi — a 100% rebel Time Lord according to his costume reveal — but we’re also getting a second time traveling human. Anderson will play Danny Pink, a teacher at Coal Hill School where companion Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) also teaches.

Fans of the classic series will remember that Coal Hill School is where original companions Barbara Wright and Ian Chesterton came into the fold (they were the teachers of the Doctor’s granddaughter Susan back in 1963. Considering we're rebooting the show without Matt Smith but with an as-yet-unprecedented new cycle of regenerations, the mirroring is a nice touch, and perhaps not only an homage to the series origins, but showrunner Steven Moffat’s attempt to bring the show back to its roots.

Which is why it’s no surprise that Moffat had this to say on the recent addition: “For the fourth time in Doctor Who history, Coal Hill School is coming to the aid of the TARDIS. In 1963, teachers Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright accompanied the first Doctor. These days it’s the turn of Jenna Coleman as Clara Oswald. And very soon now, Sam Anderson as Danny Pink will be entering the world of the Doctor. But how and why? Answers are coming later this year in Peter Capaldi's first season of Doctor Who!"

So we know that this mirroring is purposeful rather than happenstance, but there’s still no word on the how or why that is — mystery, after all, is New Who’s best friend. We're going to have to wait and see on this one, then.

Speaking on the new role himself, Anderson said: "I was so excited to join Doctor Who I wanted to jump and click my heels, but I was scared I might not come down before filming started! It's a quintessential part of British culture and I can't believe I'm part of it. It's an honor to be able to work alongside Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman and I can't wait to show people how my character becomes involved with such a fantastic duo!”

And there’s a good deal of additional information regarding the co-starring, one assumes, baddies of the upcoming season. The press release also mentioned that filming recently began on episode four of the new series. The co-stars include Robert Goodman (Gangs of New York, Game of Thrones) in episode four, and Jonathan Bailey (Broadchurch, Groove High) and Pippa Bennett-Warner (The Smoke, Death in Paradise) in episode five.

What a bittersweet Christmas. The holiday send-off for Matt Smith was both a reflection on his time — the fondest of farewells for one of the most beloved Doctors — and a rule-breaking send-off into a whole new world of Doctor Who. With a new face and a few ill-colored kidneys, Peter Capaldi capped off an episode that said goodbye to the old Who the way we all come into the world: naked and screaming.

But hey — at least we all like each other here, right? It’s a safe zone. “The Time of The Doctor” had quite a few things it needed to tackle, requiring honest, raw, and yes, naked vulnerability. So they stripped Eleven naked before making the impossible regeneration possible — and on Christmas day to boot!

No matter, you want clothes? Fine, here’s the illusion of clothes. Have fun knowing the truth but wanting to believe the lie: grams doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. The show had a fun time with that metaphor for the frilly bit of dressing up that is televised storytelling, but don’t let the humor fool you: Doctor Who is aware it is a television show, first and foremost. Dressing up is what they do, but they also have a lot of other balls in the air to juggle.

Like age. Having just reached its fiftieth anniversary, the show is old, even if the veneer and modernity of it all makes it feel relatively young. Besides, as they said in the Farewell to Matt Smith special that aired prior to: it is a kid show for adults and an adult show for kids. Making Smith’s aging the perfect twist — his stasis explored not on his time. Aged-up Smith did his best First Doctor/William Hartnell impression (at least in the hair department, though a lot of it is the hair with Smith — having it or not!) to show the physicality of his years. And if he’s been hanging around on Trenzalore for at least 300 years (though I’m wagering older), he’s around 1,500 years old now. Hello, perspective!

So suddenly, the audience was in the position of the show’s creators: all the truth was out there in plain site (or projected onto the retina), since lying was impossible in Christmas. But where anyone could’ve easily faltered, Moffat nailed it. Parts of the Doctor’s past (classic and new) were utilized to illustrate visually what was happening metaphorically. Tasha Lem and the Doctor framed it as the destiny trap. Because when you think about the Doctor’s life, there’s so much to know, so much to remember — so much that’s important.

Something that Clara has reminded him of throughout the entire episode as well as her many lives: his own well-being. “What about your life. Just for once, after all of this, have you not earned the right to think about that?” But the Doctor is too noble to choose his well-being over another’s, so Clara goes and makes the impossible possible: made the Time Lord give the Doctor another set of 12 regenerations. So the game’s back on and anything is possible.

So how does one figure out what that well-being is? Well, for starters: do something. Live, go forward, take action. The Doctor has time now, so there’s less of a need to worry. The crack in the wall shouldn’t be seen as a scary, ominous thing, but rather a tool. A new chapter to explore.

It’s also a great reminder to worry less about how things work, because there are cracks in all our life stories: through coincidences, happenstance, and circumstance. Sometimes people even claim miracles, but it’s no matter because in the end what they all have in common is the’re things that just haven’t been explained yet. Or might never be, because that’s how life works. But it’s a caveat we ignore given the omnipresence created in television storytelling. It’s important not to forget that Doctor Who is still just a made-up story. Thanks to the respect the people creating it have for the series’ legacy.

So rules are going to be broken. But we wanted it this way: we want the show to continue: and therein lies the paradox — because everyone has a different opinion on what rules can and cannot be broken. Maybe that’s why this all had to happen in this way, though: in order to move forward, the audience had to remember that rules were made to be broken. Time can be rewritten, but that often brings change. Sometimes we have to forget certain knowledge we have in order to learn something new and maybe/hopefully even better in the future. But it’s always good to have an old cyberhead lying around, to remind you of things you need to know — just maybe wait until you feel like they’ve actually forgotten.