[SPOILERS] Christmas special info

Well the title of the special is The Last Christmas and that's loaded with potential subtext mainly will it be Clara's last Doctor Who episode...no one's given any offical word to the number of rumors surrounding that, but we do now for sure that The Moff has confirmed that series lead Peter Capaldi will be back for season 9, Jenna Coleman however has not been confrimed and as i stated nor has it been confirmed she's leaving.

Anyway the synopsis from the BBC of the episode is :

"The Doctor and Clara face their Last Christmas. Trapped on an Arctic base, under attack from terrifying creatures, who are you going to call? Santa Claus!"

And here's a nice promo pic :


and a vid

[video=youtube;pApRQEal4nc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pApRQEal4nc#t=15[/video]

Also: An extended preview of this year's Christmas Special, from this year's Children in Need programme:

[video=youtube;MsxEenCBRG0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsxEenCBRG0[/video]

I thought Death in Heaven was the end of Clara and the special would (maybe) introduce her replacement.
That makes me sad, as the end of the season was a nice end point for the character, albeit bittersweet. It was such a different way of removing a companion beyond the standard trope of them falling in love and settling down.

We've gotten more spoilers and it looks like Clara’s fate will be determined for sure during this year’s Christmas Special. However, the actress may have decided to stay on for a limited run in Season 9.

The inquisitr is reporting that Jenna (Clara) has decided to stick around for the first half of season 9, it looks she changed her mind while out promoting the show.

Also looks like the writers had to redo the Christmas episode's ending due to Jenna's change of heart.

I'm really conflicted about Clara. They've made her into a good character, with great chemistry w/Capaldi's Doctor, so I want her to stay on. But they've also given the two of them a proper story, and I want to end, like all proper stories should.

I'm concerned they're going to undermine & undo the dramatic arc of season 8 if they keep Clara around.