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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.
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.
Both halves of which are explicitly pointed out in TFA:
Bring back Tom Baker!
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
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.
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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?"
The Telegraph reports Karen Gillan as specifically denying that Smith's going anywhere, so this is just a spurious attempt by the Sun to generate "news".
Here's hoping Smith stays on for at least 3 years, and we get some more multi-season arcs going.
xkcdsw: the unofficial archive of Making xkcd Slightly Worse
"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.
He was once.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
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.
Not so fast, The Doctor has been getting younger, and more manic from the first very first regeneration. Also, other time lords seem to get older with each regeneration. I think the 12 regeneration cap, and the tendency to get older with each regeneration would be more about your life stile and mind than your body.
We are the Borg...
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).
... 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.
He was once.
Or will be someday. :P
After the end of time arc I'm happy with a brighter happier and more cheerful Doctor. Gloomy doctor worked for Tennant at the end but for a fresh start, give me a doctor that can have the balls to wear a bow tie and a fucking fez!
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
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.
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.
...they also predicted he was leaving a year ago ... ...and that David Tennant was leaving after his first and second years (they got lucky after his third year) .....
Puteulanus fenestra mortis
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
From that first article, this worries me greatly (much more than the departure or otherwise of Smith):
Writer Stephen Moffat recently admitted he was "so excited" about the upcoming episode, which would include a host of exciting storylines. He said: "We're going for broke with this one. It's all your favourite Christmas movies at once, in an hour, with monsters and the Doctor and a honeymoon and - oh, you'll see.
No, no, no - has he learned nothing? He ruined the season finale by trying to be too ambitious and throwing everything into the mix, and now he's planning to make the Christmas special more of the same? I know there's probably a big drive from the bosses to make everything bigger and better so they can sell DVDs and toys, but this is not playing to Moffat's strengths at all.
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!
Interesting... according to BBS polls you are in a very small minority. Tennant is even rated above Tom Baker. That's a tough number to beat.
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.
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."
Well done, Mr. Smith.
Dr. Who is NOT:
-twelve years old
Sorry, but it just doesn't work.
He's, what, two or three years younger than Peter Davison was when he started? Five years younger than David Tennant when he started?
I do feel like they've maybe been overdoing the "youthful doctor" thing... But I like how Smith has played it. He has a young face but it's like he lets a little of his inner codger show through. :)
If they ever do make him really twelve, though... Ouch.. I don't normally speak too badly of "Wesley Crusher" (I was a kid, Wesley was my hero!) but a kid playing a know-it-all lead sounds like a recipe for pain... I'm not old enough yet to think of Matt Smith as a "kid". :)
Bow-ties are cool.
give me a doctor that can have the balls to wear a bow tie and a fucking fez!
Fezzes are cool.
Bow-ties are cool.
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.
I do believe that Amy and River were quite clear on that subject.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Who is this guy?
Yes!
Bow-ties are cool.
As a general trend, I'd agree, but I'm not sure that's quite right.
First -> Second: Younger, bit more manic.
Second -> Third: Comparable age. Less manic (but more physical)
Third -> Fourth: Younger, more manic.
Fourth -> Fifth: Younger, much less manic
Fifth -> Sixth: Comparable age, much more manic (in the literal, psychiatric sense, too)
Sixth -> Seventh: Older (seems so), less manic
Seventh -> Eight: Younger, less manic, (also remember, they're all a bit crazy after a regen and we only see one "episode" with Eight).
Eight -> Nine: Older, bit more manic.
Nine -> Ten: Comparable age but younger image, loads more manic.
Ten -> Eleven: Younger, less manic on the whole (still quite manic, but comes across as someone sane but highly enthusiastic, rather than crazily excitable like Ten).
If you want to say that Ten and Eleven are younger and more manic than One and Two, definitely, but I don't think it's a steady progression.
Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
Clarke said that, not Asimov.
Rhapsody in Numbers
Stephen Fry would be an awesome Dr! I suspect he could be the next Pertwee - the best of all so far.
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?
The Telegraph reports Karen Gillan as specifically denying
Pfft! That woman would forget her own engagement. I wouldn't trust her as a source.
Paul McGann - one episode. One episode too many, that is.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
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.
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".)
Really? I kind of like him, but the Dr. Who episode/film he was in wasn't much good. Not sure it was really his fault.
http://www.acetonestudio.com
One movie (not considered canon by the BBC) and a whole bunch of online adventures (canonical so he gets included in flashbacks and the Doctor Count).
Clarke said that, not Asimov.
Clarke was paraphrasing the monolith.
SW Holiday Special air date was Nov. 17, 1978 - six days before Thanksgiving. It was not, as many believe, a Christmas show.
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!!!
Smith is pathetic, Tennant was brilliant.
I say we approach Adam Carter to play the Doctor! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam_Carter
BBS polls? I think that puts YOU in the small minority.
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.