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Matt Smith Leaving Doctor Who Already?
bowman9991 sent in a disappointing rumor saying "Ironically Matt Smith, the youngest Doctor Who ever, apparently wants to retire early. An unconfirmed report suggests Smith would like to try his hand at Hollywood films after the end of his second season as the Doctor. Smith is currently filming this year's Doctor Who Christmas special with Karen Gillan, who plays his companion Amy Pond, and opera star Katherine Jenkins. After the Christmas special he goes straight into production on a new Doctor Who series set to air next year." I've tremendously enjoyed the Smith/Gillan combo, personally.
I hear Mel Gibson is available.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
I remember the last time a sci-fi franchise I enjoyed made a Christmas Special...
*barfs*
Farewell, Matt Smith!
I did enjoy Tennant, but Eccleston and Smith are on a whole different level for me. To be fair, Smith has the benefits of a better showrunner.
I've tremendously enjoyed the Smith/Gillan combo personally.
I greatly fear we shan't be in Wimbledon by noonfall.
Considering he's signed up for a minimum of a 3 year contract with an optional two, I don't see him bowing out of Who at the end of next year...
Also with the exception of their story on Eccleston, The Sun is by and large a load of bollocks.
Unknown actors will take the role, stay for around a year or so, and then move on to better things. Dr. Who is alright, but it's children's television, and no serious actor wants to be typecast as a sci-fi superhero.
Thank god and away with him as fast as possible - the new series was so damn bad. Hope it gets better with another actor.
In the revived series, each time the actor playing the Doctor has changed, I expected that the new one couldn't be as great as the one retiring. But I've been pleasantly surprised each time.
So while I'm sad to see the current one go, I'm meta-okay with it.
Bring back Tom Baker!
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
http://www.list.co.uk/article/27226-matt-smith-sticks-with-doctor/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/7897262/Doctor-Who-star-Matt-Smith-is-staying-put-says-Karen-Gillan.html
With a face like the new Doctors I think Sci-fi Superhero is the best he may be able to get.
Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
For the love of God, can you lock these actors into three year contracts, please? Tennant did right by the role, but Eccleston and Smith have burned up their regenerations wastefully...
If your bitterest enemies are people who hack the heads off civilians, then I would say you're doing something right.
Not to take anything away from Mr. Smith, who has acted his part quite well, but he simply doesn't fit with my perception of the Doctor.
Dr. Who is:
-creative
-intelligent
-witty
-civilized
Well done, Mr. Smith.
Dr. Who is NOT:
-twelve years old
Sorry, but it just doesn't work.
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Cult TV Feed @ Feed Distiller
this is fine by me. i love Amy Pond, but i'm still fairly meh about Matt Smith as The Doctor. i've already got his replacement picked: Robert Sheehan. he'd make a great 12th Doctor!
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"I can't send an email! Is the Internet full?"
"Smith would like to try his hand at Hollywood films"
He wants easy bucks and hot chicks!
Probably worth pointing out this rumour comes from The Sun, a British tabloid not exactly known for it's reliability.
Doctor Who star Matt Smith is staying put, says Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan, who plays Doctor Who's assistant, says Matt Smith isn't going to Los Angeles
Karen Gillan, who plays Amy Pond, the assistant to Matt Smith's Doctor Who, has reassuring news for his fans. The actor isn't about to decamp to Los Angeles.
"Matt will be sticking around," she told me at the Veuve Clicquot Gold Cup Final at Cowdray Park Polo Club yesterday. "I think those rumours were made up."
Karen, left, added that she and Smith have started filming the Doctor Who Christmas special, and adds that the atmosphere on the set is "great."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/7897262/Doctor-Who-star-Matt-Smith-is-staying-put-says-Karen-Gillan.html
There is a romour that hollywood wants to make a doctor who movie. J depp is named as a dr who actor (I think Depp would fit the role of the bad guy better, but who am i).
But if Matt were to play the Hollywood doctor ...
Does this mean there'll be no Fez? Fez + Bow-tie combo was going to be so badass
Shitty tabloid with history of claiming every Doctor Who star is quitting at the end of the next season claims current Doctor Who star is quitting at the end of the next season.
You're is a small minority if you're a Who fan and not enjoying the new series. The new show has made efforts to honor the older shows and maintain a reasonable continuity. The storytelling has been solid, a good run of actors... I'm a fan of the older shows too but I don't see any reason to dislike the newer episodes.
And I hope they can keep Smith on for 3 or 4 seasons. That's the average run for most of the Doctors.
They're going to need to write around that 13th regeneration limit before long...
I've seen this rumour flying around all weekend and it all comes from an article published in The Sun, not exactly the epitome of journalistic integrity.
So, what now, get another actor that leaves after a season, and wrap the series completely? IIRC, the next will be the last reincarnation, right?
Matt Smith's contract gives him a salary of only £200,000 per year - far lower than the estimated £1,000,000 earned by Tennant. He just happened to sign on at exactly the wrong time - the global economic crisis was in full swing, and the BBC (as a public broadcaster) had come under attack for its seemingly extravagant on-air talent salaries. If he can raise his profile enough over the next couple of years to attract serious attention from Hollywood, he can easily earn more than £200,000 from a single film. Let's hope that a reasonable compromise can be met before the second season is up, because the revolving door of doctors is getting tiring.
In nearly every episode River Song has appeared in, she comments on how young The Doctor appears. It doesn't surprise me that this rumor is making the rounds, and I'd bet Matt was told from the beginning he wouldn't be around too long.
Too bad though 'cause bow ties are cool!
Of course the Doctor will remain a British alien, but there's no reason he has to be white. How about a Indian? Are there any such actors who would do well in this role?
If this rumour happens to be true, I think it's a good time to nominate Hugh Laurie for the next doctor...
" I've tremendously enjoyed the Smith/Gillan combo personally."
The Doctor rarely gets so involved with fans. His sidekicks I dunno, though Billie Piper seemed to be a lot of fun UNTIL she met the Doctor. He spoils them all, you know. Something about the Sonic Screwdriver probably. Just a common old screwdriver doesn't seem to make the same impression.
I wish.
deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
I hear Ricky Gervais is looking for work.
It wasn't known if the Who re-launch would even be successful and Eccleston didn't want to get tied down. Over the course of his one season Eccleston and Davies had creative differences (meaning they didn't get along).
Who is this guy?
... was rumored to be on the short list of candidates to follow Tennant. Ejiofor was great in Serenity and Children of Men. He would have been a really great Doctor.
"Ironically Matt Smith, the youngest Doctor Who ever, apparently wants to retire early"
Irony... I don't think it means what you think it means.
HIgh on the heels of his Airbender role, he could.... could... um...
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
In my opinion, he's the best the show has seen. That's a shame that he feels it's beneath him to stay beyond 2 seasons.
If you aren't suspicious of your government's actions, you aren't doing your job as a responsible citizen.
I had been watching Dr Who since the '70's and I was so disappointed with the Matt Smith character, I stopped watching it!!!
Davies made some reboot comments prior to the first season but he was selling it to new viewers at the time. As the show has had four more seasons there have been numerous bridges built to recognize the older shows, including actually showing all of the other TV Who actors in flashback (including Paul McGann). There have been references to older adventures, characters from the older shows (Sarah Jane and K-9, hello?). What the show was sold as initially and what it has become are two different things. The story very clearly is telling the further adventures of the Doctor, not a do-over.
... has a lot in common with "The Dream Lord/Evil Doctor" character introduced this past season. They could merge the two ideas with a bit of creative story telling.
I don't think I've seen him in anything recently, but his role as the Marquis De Carabas in Neverwhere shows he could pull off an eccentric character ... even if that was 14 years ago.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Tennant was just horrible, I couldnt stand his bird-like face and his arrogance. I love Matt Smith however... Pity if he leaves...
They usually leave to "try their hand in the US" or "move on to newer bigger roles" ... and find that without the attention that being the Doctor brings you, their careers take a dive. Eccleston had a brief role in Heroes but is now back in the UK doing mostly theatre. Tennant's US show didn't get picked up. Tom Baker, the most popular of the Doctors in his time, pretty much vanished for ten years after he left. Even Peter Davison (who has had the most successful post-Who career) found himself without a popular role for a couple of years after he left.
I'd have hoped Matt'd have realised -- being the Doctor is a gift to actors (a fabulously popular role, with the opportunity to be flamboyant, steal every scene, and save the world every week) but it doesn't mean your next role's going to be like that. There aren't many of those roles out there. It you've got one, for goodness sakes milk it and don't worry about being "typecast" because frankly you're typecast from day one in that role.
Have a watch of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do-wDPoC6GM
If you can sit through this without laughing, you should seek professional help.
Ian Ameline
The Valeyard turned out to be the Doctor in his thirteenth generation from the series "Trial of a Timelord". Will we see this happen again with the next generation???
Or will they just act like it never happened?
Mike @ The Geek Pub. Let's Make Stuff!
Perhaps this time he'll have red hair...
Make it so.
Well, whatever genre anyone insists on pigeonholing it into, I personally don't care whether Doctor Who is considered a children's show or not. I can't exactly call myself a Doctor Who geek, but the show probably formed nearly as much of a backdrop for our (British, that is) culture as Monty Python.
The original William Hartnell version of the Doctor formed one of my earliest memories back in the early '60s, and I followed the show more or less regularly until Tom Baker hung up his scarf.
The subsequent five incarnations more or less passed me by, but David Tennant revived the persona for me. The first Matt Smith episode left me unconvinced, but once he got into his stride, he did a great job.
"To be science fiction, not fantasy, an honest effort at prophetic extrapolation from the known must be made" -- John W. Campbell
From the man Isaac Asimov (whose quote "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" you are clearly paraphrasing) called "the most powerful force in science fiction ever", this is the definitive explanation of the dividing line between science fiction and fantasy.
Gillan has stated that it is just a rumor and Smith has no intentions of leaving
Now if we can also dump that failure of a "show-runner" Moffat, I can go back to giving Doctor Who a chance again. This first Moffat/Smith season turned me, a life-long Whovian, off to the show completely. A massive turnaround from waiting, with baited-breath for the first download of each week's episode to appear on the net. I found the whole season to be a mis-paced, un-who-like, muddled and emotionless mess.
"Remember when I said I would never lie? Well, that was the first time."
Time for an older/wiser doctor again. Matt Smith's Dr. seemed more like Norman Wisdom to me. Just wasn't right.
Doctor Who jumped the shark before sharks were even being jumped in the US!
There's no shortage of storytelling cheats for giving the Doctor a 14th incarnation and beyond. But like most fans I have a curiosity to see how it will eventually be done.
The simplest explanation would be to say No Timelords = No limits. The limitation was governed by some mechanism that went away. But how do you make it dramatic and interesting?
The Doctor would eventually need to deal with the burden that he will be the last living thing in the universe, outlasting even the TARDIS, watching the last star grow cold.
No if only we could get David Tennant back...
I do believe that Amy and River were quite clear on that subject.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Does anyone know who had the shortest stay as the Doctor?
There's a lot of potential to revisit the early days of the Doctor, but one of the big question marks old fans ask is "Granddaughter?"
The Doctor has said in the new series that he was a dad at one point, so it's certainly possible that Susan really is part of his family from Gallifrey. Was she a Timelord as well? Does everyone on Galifray get to regenerate? The Doctor has said several times he is the last Timelord, so does that mean he believes Susan had died/gone away during the Time War? He believes the rest of his family is dead. Did she return to Earth after The Five Doctors and live the rest of her life in the 22nd century? Could she have grown a TARDIS and traveled?
Tennant may not be the greatest British Shakespearian actor of his generation --- Jonathan Slinger probably gets that nod at the moment, after his Richards in 2007/8 --- but he's very, very good and his Hamlet sits alongside Branagh's as one of the best in recent years. Who knows what Tennant will be like in his late sixties, as Patrick Stewart was for his recent Anthony, Prospero, Macbeth and Claudius (with a side-order of Vladimir in Godot) --- I saw all of those bar the Anthony, and he was superb --- but at the moment in his forties the RSC would kill to have Tennant on hand to do Henry V or Richard II. And in ten years' time he's going to be the defining Prospero of the 2020s. The BBC got a bargain for his Who, as he's the first serious actor to take the part.
By the way, another Who name to watch: Sam Troughton, son of David, grandson of Patrick. Stunning Romeo this year.
Matt Smith has been very good, and if they could get Tom Baker back for a story nobody would be happier than me. Baker's not likely to return to the show full time but a story or two would kick ass. He's aged a lot since Logopolis, so they'd need to explain that. Baker suggested a few years ago he'd be interested in playing the Master, and that would be extremely cool.
>>"The magical way they brought back The Master for the end of season 4 was just stupid."
I watched "End of Time" 1 and 2 in one sitting, so I was a lot happier with it than other people. the way the brought back the Master was goofy, but hardly the worst plot device in Who history. The scene where the Doctor asks the Master to travel the universe with him was great, there was a moment where the Master actually considered it. But mostly John Simm is awesome so any chance for him to return to the show...
>>"At least with a form of history reset they can ignore a lot of previous shows"
They gave themselves a big broom to sweep up mistakes with the time crack last season. I doubt they'd completely reset the Who universe, Mofit is such a fan of the older show.
>>"Its getting too melodramatic and mushy on these story ark endings as well"
Hey, my wife cried at the end of "Vincent". Some of the shows cater to the female Who fans.
>>"...WW2 planes in space... the UK on an endangered space whale ..."
I was more sorry to see them scrap the cool Dalek props they've used for the last four years for the iPod version.
>>"...it would be nice if the UK was not the center of the universe"
But that's part of Doctor Who! They're doing new Torchwood episodes and filming much if not all of the season here in the US, and and they did the '96 Who movie here in the US. It doesn't feel right. That's why you can't have a yank play the Doctor, even Johnny Depp. Doctor Who is uniquely British and should always be that way.
Shahrukh Khan
/me runs away as fast as possible
Hey, this might be a good excuse to bring Eccleston back. I rather enjoyed his version of The Doctor.
It's time for the '60s and 70s's SF shows to die. Enough of Star [Trek|Wars], Dr. Who, Battlestar Galactica, Astro Boy, etc. We need to move forward.
(Also, enough with the "Chosen One" movies. You know, the "Teenage boy discovers he has an Inherent Magical Power which gives him a Destiny to Do Great Things" genre. This year alone, that concept has been beaten to death in "The Last Airbender", "Sorcerer's Apprentice", and "Percy Jackson and The Olympians".)
SW Holiday Special air date was Nov. 17, 1978 - six days before Thanksgiving. It was not, as many believe, a Christmas show.
When there were rumors about David Tennant leaving they were quickly contradicted.
TSIA
Most actors who get "that one amazing role" never do anything else. Typecast or not doesn't matter. The fall of the dice is against a single breakout hit translating into a stardom career.
Is it "typecasting?" Harrison Ford and John Travolta have had their share of typeroles, but have done very well overall. Sharon Stone, on the other hand, has had to prove that she's not just that Basic Instinct woman, and can actually act. Mark Hamill is firmly set in people's minds as Luke Skywalker, except for the millions who know him as the voice of the Joker. Robert Englund never got away from Freddy, but he has had a great run of it.
A lot of actors have translated a successful single role into a long and successful career. I'm sure Leonard Nimoy et / al would like to be respected as actors in their own rights and see a career bloom outside of what they did 40 years ago. But they've also traveled the world, hobnobbed with other famous people, and lived full, rich lives. Most actors just wind up working in parking lots or corporate security. Compared to the risks of being typecast, the risks of fading away into the working actors stiffs seems so much more frightening.
The ______ Agenda
Have many Drs. stuck around long? Chris Eccleston was only around for one series (shame, I had just warmed to him and really started to like him as The Doctor, and he goes and regenerates). Tennant was around longer, but only what, 3 series? If Matt Smith's been around for 2 series, and is working on a 3rd, I'd say his natural shelf-life is about up, isn't it?
Welcome to the land of "Old." (As in, you.)
There's a shockingly small number of actual different stories, (I can't remember the exact number, but it's somewhere around 4 or maybe 8).
Basically, everything has been done. The only new ideas are based on format and style, and most of those are just ones which haven't been used in a long enough while that they seem new when they get rediscovered.
I don't disagree with you, though. I find I've seen so much pattern that when I come across something I'm not able to map out from the first twenty pages, (or the first five minutes), I'm super-elated!
The only exception I'd drop in there is Doctor Who. I didn't think very highly of this last season, (Moffat did some neat things, but mostly fumbled the ball a whole lot), but the story of one man's journey as a Time Lord is really neat to see unfold through half a century and 11 psychological profiles and dozens of friends. There's something truly epic and kind of meta-story about it. It's quite an original experiment in that sense.
-FL
Warning! For my fellow Americans, who have not yet seen the season finale, don't read the last paragraph in the linked article.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
If children can handle Roald Dahl's work, they can handle anything Doctor Who throws at them, and I feel sorry for any kid, British, American, or otherwise English-native speaking who didn't grow up on Roald Dahl's work.
By reading this you acknowledge that you have read it.
This is a totally fair comment.
The writing made a deliberate effort to dis-empower the Doctor. It seemed that every second character was giving the Doctor back-talk, and rightly so! He was making mistakes. He even lost a child in one episode! It was weird to see him in a state of weakness throughout. -Not un-interesting, but certainly not what is expected from the Doctor.
But that's not my problem with the last season. I thought the timing was lousy, (everything was so rushed and there was no time for character development), and the character chemistry was awful! Compare Donna and Ten's interaction at any point on their relationship to Amy and Eleven. Amy is like Martha for me; it seems forced and forgettable. The 10 year-old Amy and the Doctor are far more entertaining to watch. I almost wish the Doctor could have been traveling with the kid instead, and have abandoned the whole love tension nonsense which Moffat is apparently incapable of writing in a believable way.
I miss Rose and her family. That was silly, but far more believable and engaging.
-FL
You've been trolled. The SUN writes all kinds of gossip to stir up shit and sell a few rags. Specific to Doctor Who, they ran the exact story in 2006 and 2007 iirc.
... DR Who star David Tennant is to quit the show ? leaving BBC bosses looking for their 11th Timelord, The Sun can reveal. ...
www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article77137.ece
Tennant set to quit as Dr Who | The Sun
Dec 28, 2006
Someone might be able to find the other articles.
Cheers.
Yet Socrates himself is particularly missed.
A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he's pissed.
I don't see how this is early, if you look at the record of the modern Doctor Who franchise. Paul McGannis lasted all of one TV movie; Christopher Eccleston lasted for one year, and then David Tennant lasted for three. So Matt Smith at two would hardly be "early" -- just sooner than Tennant. Also, as pointed out before, The Sun is hardly the most reliable source.
http://www.tenjou.net/
I mean this one.
He would be an excellent Doctor!!!
Thanks for the info. TheWanderingHermit. As to the rest of you rumor mongering paparazzi internet falsehood propogating beyotches that very nearly upset me upon reading this headline here today with its now shown to be false nature? See subject-line above!
Yes, I liked Christopher Eccleston quite a lot, as he actually put The Good Doctor back on the level of the legendary Tom Baker (the master of lunacy himself as far as Dr. Who's over time IMO), and then along came David Tennant to steal the show from C. Eccleston to "steal the show" on that account right off the bat no less, outdoing he in the area of "Doctorish Zaniness" yet again... and I think, per my subject-line above as 1 example thereof above, is that Mr. Smith here is on his way to doing so yet again even from Mr. D. Tennant himself.
So per my subject line above again once more? Bowties ARE COOL, and hopefully we can now be assured they will stay so.
Smith is pathetic, Tennant was brilliant.
I say we approach Adam Carter to play the Doctor! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Carter
And maybe it's time the doctor was a woman....
Doctor Who finished in 1989. McGann, Eccleston, Tennant and Smith are just impostors in a dreadful remake with all the dramatic depth of a skip full of crumpled-up Christmas wrapping paper.
I've been a fan since the series has been restarted up and this Doctor is by far the worst. Karen is clearly the worst Who girl while being one of the cutest in a girl next door way. The fact that they had to take a year off sort of reinforces my thoughts. They were simply out of material and quality writing and had to brainstorm. The acting, scripts, and delivery of the scripts has been off the charts cheesy. Yes, i realize this is a kids show but it's just been sorely lacking. I think we saw the end of the downfall with the last few episodes of the previous season. They just seem to be a ^C^V^ amalgamation of other stories we've seen a thousand times.
I love doctor who and all, but I really wish they'd cut it with the chior sound-track, really wrecks any scene they slather it over the top of. Bloody Ood. That and Catherine Tate STILL needs to be shot, or at least erased from history somehow so I can sleep at night again.