A bit TOO much exposure for Doctor Who's new assistant: Fans see actress topless in BBC drama that's '90 per cent sex'

PUBLISHED: 22:18, 29 September 2012 | UPDATED: 23:06, 29 September 2012

Doctor Who might be used to dealing with unusual situations – but he’s never faced anything quite like this before.

The actress set to board the Tardis as his next companion has stunned fans by appearing topless in a BBC4 drama described as ‘90 per cent sex’.

Jenna-Louise Coleman, best known for playing Emmerdale’s Jasmine Thomas, stripped off for the television adaptation of John Braine’s landmark 1957 novel Room At The Top.

Sexually charged: Jenna-Louise Coleman in a seduction scene with Matthew McNulty in Room At The Top

Almost 500,000 viewers last week saw the 26-year-old actress appear in a sexually charged seduction scene set in a stairwell.

And in another, her character Susan Brown, the naive daughter of a wealthy businessman, lost her virginity to the main character, Joe Lampton, who is played by Matthew McNulty.

Leading lady: Doctor Who's new assistant Jenna-Louise Coleman who will join the show at Christmas

Braine’s post-war drama, which featured strong language as well as the explicit scenes, revolved around Lampton’s ruthless efforts to escape from his working-class background, using Brown as a way to climb the social ladder.

In the stairwell scene, Coleman exposes her breasts and places Lampton’s hand on them, prompting him to say: ‘I could never believe a woman would love me enough to let me do this.’

The drama, the first adaptation of Braine’s novel since an X-rated 1959 movie, also featured Shameless star Maxine Peake as a rival for Lampton’s affections.

The two-part series caused a stir among viewers. One tweeted: ‘So did anyone watch Jenna-Louise Coleman in Room At The Top? I got more than I bargained for.’

Coleman herself described Room At The Top as being about ‘class, love, lust, sex, ambition, control and money’.

The actress is set to become Doctor Who’s next sidekick in the Christmas Day episode of the show.

But she has already made an appearance in an episode this month, playing feisty Oswin Oswald, who was convinced she was trapped on a planet overrun by Daleks.

The Doctor made contact with her, and they immediately bonded. But the episode ended in heartbreak when it was discovered she was slowly being converted into a Dalek.

Doctor Who fans have since speculated how Coleman will manage to meet the Doctor again, with some suggesting she will play a different character, possibly related to Oswald.

Coleman replaces the Doctor’s current assistants, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, who left the show last night.

Gillan hinted her character Amy Pond might return in the 50th anniversary special next year.

Asked if this was on the cards, she said: ‘I know the answer to that and I can’t tell you.’

Jenna-Louise Coleman pictured with Tom Chambers in Waterloo Road

In character: Jenna-Louise Coleman, pictured left with Matthew McNulty and Maxine Peake, in Room At The Top and with Tom Chambers in Waterloo Road, right

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Sunday, 30 September 2012

Doctor Who's new assistant: Fans see actress topless in BBC drama that's '90 per cent sex'

A bit TOO much exposure for Doctor Who's new assistant: Fans see actress topless in BBC drama that's '90 per cent sex'