Jenna Coleman picture of the day, as Joanna Lindsay in The Cry. I love the styling of this picture, and I think it belongs in an art gallery.
Clara, the Doctor, and Christmas crackers
In The Time of the Doctor, and Last Christmas
Because every Christmas is Last Christmas. Time of the Doctor was 11′s last Christmas, and Last Christmas was Clara’s final one (not counting Twice Upon a Time). Besides the wonderful parallels of these scenes, both 11 and Clara see a close friend they lost for one last time (but only as a dream/hallucination), both age a lot, but are then young again. 11 is rescued when Clara asks the Time Lords for help. Clara is rescued when 12 asks Santa for help.
Now what was in Clara’s Christmas cracker in Last Christmas? We unfortunately never find out.
Jenna Coleman picture of the day, as Clara Oswald in a promotional picture for The Day of the Doctor.
Jenna Coleman picture of the day, in a photoshoot in 2008
Jenna Coleman picture of the day, at the Audi Polo Challenge, June 2015.
Jenna Coleman wearing suits
What is the central theme of the 12th Doctor’s era?
Is there one at all? Well, I would argue that there are several themes that could qualify. There is the teacher-student relationship, the blurring of borders between good and evil, the attempts by Missy and the Doctor to make each more like themselves...
But I think the most definitive theme for the overarching storylines of these three series is the question: what does it mean to be the Doctor? This question is posed three times, once in each series, every time by a different character. Meet the “holy trinity”:
In series 8, the Doctor tries to find himself again, and attempts to determine who he really is. He struggles with what he can and cannot do, where to draw the line between good and evil, and whether such a line exists at all. Whether a good Dalek can exist, or whether summoning an army of Cybermen to to save prisoners in a Dalek prison camp is morally the right thing to do. He struggles with how much he should intervene in the lives of others, and whether he has an innate responsibility to help out, or not. He isn’t always right, and makes mistakes in several instances, but always learns from them, until finally he has found a definition for being “The Doctor” that he is happy with:
I am an idiot, with a box and a screwdriver. Just passing through, helping out, learning. I don't need an army. I never have, because I've got them. Always them. Because love, it's not an emotion. Love is a promise.
But even after he has found himself in this description, his journey is far from complete, and series 9 shows that this definition has its pitfalls as well. He refines this definition based on new experiences, and by the end of series 9 has found a description that he is willing to pass on. His final speech to Clara, and his speech to his future incarnation are almost identical. It is the same speech he gives to the two characters to succeed in his role after him. It is both his advice to them, and a summary of what it truly means to be the Doctor:
Run like hell, because you always need to. Laugh at everything, because it's always funny. Never be cruel and never be cowardly. And if you ever are, always make amends. Never eat pears. They're too squishy and they always make your chin wet. That one's quite important. Write it down.
Never be cruel, never be cowardly, and never, ever eat pears! Remember, hate is always foolish, and love is always wise. Always try to be nice, but never fail to be kind. Laugh hard, run fast, be kind.
In series 9, Clara is the one who asks this very question. She has grown in confidence and skill over the years. She doesn’t like relying on others, and is naturally a carer; she always seeks out anyone in need of help, and does whatever it takes to assist them, regardless of the cost to her. This is Clara’s driving force. It doesn’t take long for her to notice that she can learn a lot from the Doctor, who has centuries of experience of doing just that. First, she experienced 2000 years of the Doctor’s past actions. Then she tried emulating the Doctor, and pretended to be him. But by the time series 9 comes along, she no longer needs to pretend, she has become incredibly similar to the Doctor in almost all regards. But there is still a lot that she, as “The Magician’s Apprentice” still has to learn. In this process she faces several tough questions, when faced with some of the Doctor’s negative character traits, and her own mortality. Is it right to manipulate others, and put some people in danger for the benefit of others? Yet she keeps learning, keeps seeking out new opportunities. She constantly willingly puts herself to the test, uses what worked before, and discardes what didn’t work as well. Incrementally she takes up a more and more dominant role. Series 9 very often features essentially two Doctors at two different locations, each working towards the solution independently, while fully trusting one another to always do the right thing.
Clara acquires nearly all of the Doctor’s traits throughout this series, while still maintinaing her individuality. But there is one last hurdle that seems to be out of reach for her; she is still very mortal, and depends on the Doctor for access to time travel. In the end, the Doctor gives her these final puzzle pieces as well, allowing her to achieve her ambitions, and complete her progression to really become a second Doctor.
In series 10, we get the third character who is faced with this question: Missy. Unlike the Doctor and Clara, she at first feels forced to ponder this topic, as the Doctor wants her to be more like him. But as time goes on, as she is still trapped in the Vault, she starts taking it a bit more seriously. What started out as mere pretense becomes genuine consideration. Despite her attempts to make fun of, and downplay the Doctor’s efforts, it does have a noticeable effect on her. She doesn’t escape when she gets the chance to, she helps Nardole pilot the TARDIS, and provides assistance in copying with an alien invasion. In the end, she is confronted by two opposites; should she go down the destructive path of her younger self, or instead try something else, something that she realizes was lingering deep down in her all along, which the Doctor has tried to nurture? Her story ends with a disguise towards the Doctor, only revealing her true colours to herself. In her betrayal of the Master, she too has completed this arc, and embraced the concept of being the Doctor.
This trinity; the Doctor, his apprentice, and his nemesis, all look towards the same ideal; the ideal that is the Doctor. The stories of these three characters defines this era (sorry Bill and Nardole), and are incredibly intertwined. Missy brings Clara and the Doctor together. She also probably has a hand in Danny’s death, which causes Clara’s breakdown, and increased reckessness. This in turn leads to her death, which is completely devastating for the Doctor. Yet instead of having his revenge, the Doctor saves Missy from her execution, and tries to make her a better person.
All three of them suffer quite a bit along the way, but learn a lot from it, which ends up being essential for their understanding of what it truly means to be the Doctor. They all end up understanding, and being the Doctor. And they all die because of it. They all sacrifice themselves for the sake of others. Yet all (at least Clara and the Doctor, but possibly also Missy, as the Master always cheats death) live to tell the tale, and possibly have grown because of it.
There is no definitive answer to this question, and each of them finds their own approach. And yet series 8-10 predominantly features the quest to find an answer, and to embrace it.
Jenna Coleman Interview for the Mirror (2006)
WITH silky brown hair, healthy golden skin and a smile that lights up the room, Emmerdale star Jenna- Louise Coleman is clearly blissfully happy.
This interview with Jenna took place one year after she started portraying Jasmine Thomas in the British Soap “Emmerdale”. It does have all the characteristics of a tabloid article, but it does have several gems hidden in it. It’s interesting to consider what’s changed, and what hasn’t, in the 13 years since.
Her eyebrows look very different nowadays, and she now usually sticks to a lighter shade of brown for her hair (and a shorter length). In this interview she is a lot more open about her relationship with Karl Davies, who was her boyfriend at the time, than she is nowadays. It seems like she has learned to appreciate the importance of keeping her public and her private life separate since then.
The interview also reveals a lot of details about Jenna’s life in the early 2000s, that few articles since then have mentioned. As Victoria fans might know, she used to dance a lot when she was younger, then stopped when she neared the end of her school life. After getting top grades in all her subjects, and gaining some weight, she applied to several drama schools. She was rejected 7 times (is that why 7 is her lucky number?), and was about to give up on her dreams of becoming an actress. She started working at a bar, but kept trying to achieve the breakthrough to start her career.
Fortunately, the producers of Emmerdale immediately recognized her talent (despite so many others who didn’t), and gave her the role of Jasmine Thomas the same day, despite not having any real training as an actress, or any experience besides some school plays. In an odd twist of events, she finally did get a place in a drama school on the very same day as well. As we all know, Jenna took the risk, and accepted the role in Emmerdale. Her rejections from drama schools had a silver lining to them after all!
There are also two quotes from Jenna that I find kind of funny in retrospect:
But despite her looks, Jenna laughs off being labelled a sexsymbol. "Unless you're the kind of person who gets turned on by Jasmine's cardigans, who'd fancy me?”
"I was in Boots the other day and someone came up and asked me if I'd been mobbed by autograph hunters and if I'd arrived in a limo. Like I get driven round Leeds in a limo to buy my toothpaste!”
Jenna Coleman picture of the day, for LA Times.
Doctor Who World Tour - New York (3/3)
Doctor Who World Tour - New York (2/3)
Doctor Who World Tour - New York (1/3)
Some gifs of Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi in Seoul during the Doctor Who World Tour
Doctor Who World Tour - Seoul
Interviewer: Jenna [...] do you have any advice for him [Peter]?
Jenna Coleman: Peter doesn’t need advice, he’s a rockstar! Look at him!
Doctor Who World Tour - Cardiff (post 3/3)