It’s tradition for a TV star to get to take a memento or two of their time on the show when they leave, even if they have to grab it by illicit means, but it sounds like Jenna Coleman pinched half of the TARDIS when she left Doctor Who a few years ago.
Speaking on The Jonathan Ross Show to promote the latest series of her hit period drama Victoria, Coleman revealed a few of the things she took from the set when she quit playing Clara Oswald full time back in 2015. It’s not that the actress is particularly amazing at burglary, though, just that she had some help from the props people.
“I stole quite a lot actually. I stole it, but somebody helped me, in the props department so I feel like that was okay. I stole a piece of tardis. A proper Gallifreyan full-on piece under my jumper but it was in conjunction with the props team, they gave me the wink. I’ve also got the neon sign of the police box sign, and I’ve got that in my dining room, and it lights up.”
We’re pretty sure Doctor Who fans would give up their replica sonic screwdriver collections to get their hands on those awesome pieces Coleman managed to get away with from the Doctor’s time machine. Or have dinner in Jenna’s dining room to get a look at that neon Police Box sign. Or just have dinner with Jenna, period.
Jenna Coleman portrayed the so-called impossible girl Clara opposite both Matt Smith’s Eleventh Time Lord and Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth from 2012 to 2015. She then returned for a brief cameo in Capaldi’s 2017 swangsong, “Twice Upon a Time.” Fans might also know that Coleman’s schedule was so tight that she couldn’t actually be on location to film her guest spot and had to record it against a green screen and be retroactively CGI’d into the scene.
Clara was a hugely important companion to the Doctor though, so it’d definitely be interesting to see her return opposite Jodie Whittaker in the future. If she did make a Doctor Who comeback, however, the BBC might want her to replace what she took.
