Jenna Colemen reported to be leaving Doctor Who.

[The Romulan Republic]

I think I would have liked Clara much more if we'd gotten Dalek Clara as a companion. Not just because she'd be non-human, but because of the options that would have arisen for characterization and how it could have affected Day of the Doctor, where the main enemies are Daleks. And because her death seemed unnecessary. A pointless, contrived tragedy.

If they wanted the actress to be able to show her face, have the Doctor install a hologram projector on her. But have her switch to Dalek mode if forced into combat.

Edit: And, hell, Dalek Clara just seemed more likeable to me. Not sure why.

[Eternal_Freedom]

If we want something other than yet another human who'll be important, and we may possibly be finding Gallifrey this season, have the High Council (or whatever is left) send another Time Lord to observe and learn from him. The Doctor was one of their more effective assets against the Daleks, so clearly he has something he can teach the new breed of post-Time War um, Time Lords.

And I just had an utterly fucking horrible idea as to how Clara might leave. IIRC there was some old fluff in the early 90's about how Seven was training Ace so she could go off to the Academy and be a Time Lady. I really hope Moffat doesn't do anything like that.

Clara just isn't awesome enough for that. Sure she prances around and saves the universe...but Ace took on a Dalek assault squad with a baseball bat. There's really no comparison there.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, they could always bring Romana back.

Or go with my Jenny idea and have the Doctor training his daughter to be a Time Lord.

Or a new character. That's always nice.

Edit: Or... um... Missy. Though I doubt that would have Time Lord sanction. Yeah, that'd probably be the route Moffat takes.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Bringing Jenny or Susan along to train them as Time Lords would be good. Susan especially, since they coudl use a younger actress and say she regenerated.

AS for Missy? Honestly I think that would be a bad idea, for the same reasons I don't think having a Dalek or Cyberman as a companion woudl work. They've been villains for too long, too implacably opposed to the Doctor. Having to rehabilitate them as likable protagonists would take a good season at least, and frankly Moffat at present just doesn't seem capable of that.

There is also the argument that what works in small doses (Missy, Daleks, Cybermen) does not work on an "every single episode" basis. We already have people saying that "missy/daleks/cybermen/insert character here" are over-used. You'd have to significantly change them, which would take a multi-episode arc with careful writing, and sadly that isn't what we have at present.

It's funny, now that I think about it the state of NuWho the last few years is awfully reminiscent of the 80's classic series, when everything bad was the producer's fault.

[The Romulan Republic]

My main concern with Missy as a companion is not that the audience wouldn't like it or that she would be overused (for example, while I know its contentious, a lot of people accepted Spike joining the good guys on Buffy the Vampire Slayer). My concern is that it would lead to Doctor/Missy shipping (they already seem to be going in that direction), which I would object to. Not because of the homosexual/transexual undertone it would have, but because I feel that the nature of their relationship in the past and who they are should rule that out, and because it sounds like something a crappy fanfic would do. Sadly, it also sounds like something Moffat might do.

Edit: I wonder if part of the problem with Moffat, as strange as it may sound, is that he is known, from what I've seen about it, to be a long-time fan. And therefore possibly bringing all the usual fan obsession, axes to grind, and nostalgia as baggage.

Ie essentially, he's a fanfic writer with a budget.

[Iroscato]

Really, I think his main problem is he needs to grasp the meaning of 'less is more'. Though I'm loathe to put all the blame squarely on Moffat, I do think series 10 should have a total overhaul in production crew.

[The Romulan Republic]

While some people in the crew can hardly be blamed (I doubt the guys working the lights, doing the sound, building the sets, etc. have much say in the direction of Doctor Who), I do think a major overhaul of the writing staff is in order.

But the only people who, in my opinion, who must stay on for season ten are Peter Capaldi as the Doctor and Murray Gold as the composer. And whoever it is who does the Dalek voice, I guess.

I wouldn't mind Missy and some other supporting characters sticking around too, though.

Edit: I also think that maybe they should let Capaldi direct an episode if he wants to. Or force him to, for that matter. According to IMDB, he actually won an Oscar for a short film he wrote and directed.

[Eternal_Freedom]

My main concern with Missy as a companion is not that the audience wouldn't like it or that she would be overused (for example, while I know its contentious, a lot of people accepted Spike joining the good guys on Buffy the Vampire Slayer). My concern is that it would lead to Doctor/Missy shipping (they already seem to be going in that direction), which I would object to. Not because of the homosexual/transexual undertone it would have, but because I feel that the nature of their relationship in the past and who they are should rule that out, and because it sounds like something a crappy fanfic would do. Sadly, it also sounds like something Moffat might do.

While that is a concern, my objection isn't that the audience would't like it, it's more that it's something you'd really have to go all-out on as far as series writing is concerned, and that is not something I tihnk the current crop is capable of doing. Not with Moffat in charge. As Chimera said, he doesn't grasp the "less is more" idea.

Edit: I wonder if part of the problem with Moffat, as strange as it may sound, is that he is known, from what I've seen about it, to be a long-time fan. And therefore possibly bringing all the usual fan obsession, axes to grind, and nostalgia as baggage.

Ie essentially, he's a fanfic writer with a budget.

I think there's definitely a strong element of that, just as there was with Davies. Now that's a good thing for crew that are getting the reborn series up and running, but we're eight seasons in by now, I think we can cal NuWho "established" as it were.

I've said it before, but I think what the series needs now is a producer/showrunner who is more concerned with making a good show rather than making cool Doctor Who stories. So instead of finding one of the current writers to take over, or another long-term fan, get people who had worked on other successful drama series (BBC or otherwise) and put them on the task. Get, I dunno, people who worked on BSG or Agents of SHIELD or hell even Downton Abbey or something. People who know how to oversee a high-quality drama and/or SF series and let them work on it. Fresh blood, new ideas and so forth. Obviously you still need people who know the series in detail, but don't have them be in charge.

The technical staff (Murray Gold, Nicholas Briggs for the Dalek voices, production, set design, costumes etc) are all excellent people. But the overall direction needs a change.

[The Romulan Republic]

Agreed about bringing in professionals with experience in television who aren't die-hard fans of Doctor Who to run it.

[SpottedKitty]

My main concern with Missy as a companion

<snrk> I can just imagine this — and the Doctor thought he had problems with Ace's bottles of Nitro-9. He'd have to confiscate her disintegrator gadget first... then any extras she might happen to have tucked away somewhere.