Welcome to the Doctor Who Universe, where the only constant is change.

Both the Hollywood Reporter and the Inquisitr have reported that the current incarnation of the Doctor, Peter Capaldi, has signed on for Season 9. The 12th Doctor is ready to assume the controls of the TARDIS, according to McClatchy DC.

“I get up at half-six in the morning,” he says, “and by 7 o’clock I’m fighting Daleks, running down corridors, skipping down ventilation shafts. That’s a great way to be living your life at this age, I think.”

Capaldi, now 56, is a bit of a throwback to the original setup of Doctor Who. In the heyday of John Pertwee and Tom Baker (Doctors three and four), the Doctor was a middle-age man (Pertwee in his early 50’s, Baker in his early 40’s) traveling with younger companions (between 20 and 35). Capaldi was current fans’ introduction to a middle-age Doctor, having seen David Tennant (late 30s) and Matt Smith (aged 26 when he assumed the role).

Many people had wondered if today’s Doctor Who fans would accept Doctor Who at this age. Ratings, and Capaldi himself, believe the answer is a resounding yes.

“When people see you — they meet you, or they meet me—they very kindly project the character of Doctor Who upon me,” he says. “They are always very pleased to see Doctor Who so I get more smiles and affection than I would be normally. You have a real sense of how much the show means to those who love it,”Capaldi said.

So, what to do about a companion for the Doctor? Digital Spy recently interviewed Jenna Coleman, who is portraying current companion Clara Oswald. Coleman’s current contract is finished after the upcoming Christmas special, and there has been no word on whether or not Coleman is returning or leaving.

Even during the interview, when asked how she would like to have Doctor Who fans remember Clara, Coleman said, “”I don’t know yet. I don’t know. To be honest, it’s hard when you’re in the middle of it… we’ve still got the Christmas episode to come out.”

When asked when she found out that Clara’s relationship with Danny Pink was over (now that he’s been transformed into a Cyberman), Coleman responded, “Probably in March, I think, I found out. I had dinner with Steven [Moffat] and it was one of the first things he said. It’s funny because you can try and guess where stories are going to go, but with Steven you never get it right.”

Coleman also said, “So I did know for a while that was the way [it was going], but I didn’t know he was going to become a Cyberman!”

Will this be enough to chase Clara from Doctor Who? Or will it be enough to beguile her to stay for at least another season? Stay tuned for more.

[Image courtesy of Doctor Who TV]