As fans of Doctor Who will of course know, Karen Gillan bows out as the Doctor’s sidekick Amy Pond in the forthcoming series.

She is being replaced by former Emmerdale and Titanic star, Jenna Louise Coleman, who takes up the mantle of the Time Lord’s companion – who’s to be called Clara Oswin – during the show’s Christmas special.

However, while speaking to the Radio Times about her departure from the show, Karen also revealed that she’s been sharing a few tips with Jenna about the role, and about her interactions with Matt Smith, who of course plays the Doctor.

Karen said, “I’ve met Jenna and we get on really well.

“And I’ve been texting her bits and bobs about Matt, but what I wrote is a secret. That’s the code of the companion…

“I didn’t offer her any advice though because I want her to have the experience for herself.”

And apropos of Matt, he also spoke to RT about Jenna, and about the show’s writer, Steven Moffat.

Of Moffat, Matt said, “The show is so much about dealing with Steven writing, having an instinct for the tone and pace.”

And of Jenna, Matt revealed, “We did the auditions down in the bowels of the BBC and it was meant to be top secret…

“Which is ridiculous because we’d been going for four hours when we heard a cough behind a partition.

“There was this security guard with his feet up and we said to him, ‘Man, do you know what this is?’ And he was like, ‘What?’ So it wasn’t that secret.

“But I did phone the Daleks in and said, ‘I need a favour, boys…’”

Back to Karen, who can be seen in an online spin-off entitled, Pond Life, she added that she won’t be returning for next year’s one-off, 90-minute 50th anniversary special.

She said, “I want the impact of the end of the Pond era to remain strong. I don’t want to spoil it by coming back a few episodes later to say hello.”

Will you miss Karen as Amy?