Matt Smith To Leave Doctor Who This Year

This day was long coming, but I’m not sure I’m ready for this yet. Matt Smith has announced that he will be leaving Doctor Who at the end of this year’s Christmas Special episode. He’ll be back for the 50th Anniversary in November of course, along with David Tennant, the Tenth Doctor, but a month later he’ll be gone and a Twelfth Doctor will arrive.

Matt Smith joined the show in Series 5 after Tennant left the role, staying for three seasons and four years–about the same time as Tennant, and the average amount of time a Doctor usually has. I can’t say this is a shocking bit of news, I suspected he was leaving soon. Especially considering he’s having a new Hollywood movie coming out, How To Catch A Monster, but I did expect he would stay on for one more year.

I feel as though there’s still more I wanted to see from his portrayal but in some ways, this seems like the right time to go. For one thing it’s the 50th year, and what better way to launch the next 50 years than with a new Doctor?

I’m also glad that this is happening in the Christmas Special and not in the 50th. That would shift the focus from celebrating the show to Matt Smith’s exit. Quite frankly, I don’t know what to expect. I feel as though it should be just as sad as Tennant’s departure, yet completely different and fitting of the Eleventh Doctor.

Matt Smith earns my respect and appreciation for being able to take the show into new directions. It’s an incredibly hard job to come out of Tennant’s shadow and own the role the way Tennant did. But Matt Smith did it, and kept the show going on, and in the end I believe he did as good a job as the ones who came before him.

As always, it’s hard to imagine someone else taking over the role, but I can’t wait to see who surprises us next. If there’s one thing Steven Moffat has done right, it’s casting the right actors (Sherlock anyone?), so I’m fairly confident that whoever it is will be just as amazing. I won’t play the speculating game as I’d love to just be surprised when the new Doctor is revealed and as of now, Matt Smith still is the Doctor. But as Steven Moffat put it:

“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!”

Are you crushed about Matt Smith leaving the role, or are you more excited to see who takes over Doctor Who next? Let us know in the comments as always.