The BBC announced today that Matt Smith’s run as the Doctor will culminate this year in the Christmas special where he will be regenerated in his new form.
Matt Smith had this to say:
Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show. I’m incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day, to realise all the elements of the show and deliver Doctor Who to the audience. Many of them have become good friends and I’m incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the last four years.
Having Steven Moffat as show runner write such varied, funny, mind bending and brilliant scripts has been one of the greatest and most rewarding challenges of my career. It’s been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven, he’s a good friend and will continue to shape a brilliant world for the Doctor.
The fans of Doctor Who around the world are unlike any other; they dress up, shout louder, know more about the history of the show (and speculate more about the future of the show) in a way that I’ve never seen before, your dedication is truly remarkable. Thank you so very much for supporting my incarnation of the Time Lord, number Eleven, who I might add is not done yet, I’m back for the 50th anniversary and the Christmas special!
It’s been an honour to play this part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the TARDIS for a spell with ‘the ginger, the nose and the impossible one’. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Trenzalore calls. Thank you guys.
Showrunner Steven Moffat also had some words for us:
Every day, on every episode, in every set of rushes, Matt Smith surprised me: the way he’d turn a line, or spin on his heels, or make something funny, or out of nowhere make me cry, I just never knew what was coming next. The Doctor can be clown and hero, often at the same time, and Matt rose to both challenges magnificently. And even better than that, given the pressures of this extraordinary show, he is one of the nicest and hardest-working people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Whatever we threw at him – sometimes literally – his behaviour was always worthy of the Doctor.
But great actors always know when it’s time for the curtain call, so this Christmas prepare for your hearts to break, as we say goodbye to number Eleven. Thank you Matt – bow ties were never cooler.
Of course, this isn’t the end of the story, because now the search begins. Somewhere out there right now – all unknowing, just going about their business – is someone who’s about to become the Doctor. A life is going to change, and Doctor Who will be born all over again! After 50 years, that’s still so exciting!
I’m not completely surprised at this news, as the last Doctor, David Tennant, was only in the role for a short number of years as well, but I really expected Matt Smith to last at least another season or so.
For good or bad (and many have told me bad), I got in to Doctor Who during the Matt Smith years, and while I know that many people consider him an inferior Doctor to Tennant, I’ve really enjoyed Smith’s portrayal. I’m working on catching up and really like the last Doctor, but Smith is still who I consider to be MY portrayal of the iconic character, and I’ll be sad to see him go.
That said, we at least have the 50th anniversary to look forward to and the final moments in the Christmas episode where Smith will pass off his Sonic Screwdriver to a new actor.
But who will it be?
There has been a lot of discussion online about the next Doctor being portrayed by a woman, or possibly Eddie Izzard (thank to Vagabond Prime for that idea, which I fully endorse), but if our spies are to be believed, an actor has already been tapped and is ready to go. Now keep in mind, this is PURE rumor and speculation, but we’ve heard some murmurings that none other than Loki himself, Tom Hiddleston, will be the 12th iteration of the Time Lord.
Whether or not this will turn out to be true is up to pure conjecture, so we’ll just have to wait and see until the Christmas special, but I for one would be perfectly happy with this outcome.
Smith’s final run will begin in the 50th Anniversary special to air on BBC, November 23.