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Matt Smith Leaving Doctor Who Already?

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the well-that's-not-so-great dept.

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.

16 of 423 comments (clear)

  1. Christmas special? by jeffmeden · · Score: 4, Funny

    I remember the last time a sci-fi franchise I enjoyed made a Christmas Special...

    *barfs*

    Farewell, Matt Smith!

    1. Re:Christmas special? by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

      That wasn't Christmas, it was Wookie Life Day--a day when we celebrate horrid musical performances and godawful comedy bits.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    2. Re:Christmas special? by h4rm0ny · · Score: 5, Interesting

      at least some of the episodes like "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" or "The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" are far too dark for a children's show.

      Bah! Maybe American children. Hiding behind the sofa from the Doctor Who aliens is a right of passage for British children. Did you see the "Pandorica Opens" episode, where the severed cyberman helment pops open and the desicated skull pops out? The general reaction over here was: "my seven year old ran out of the room in fear - good episode!"

      --

      Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.
    3. Re:Christmas special? by nine-times · · Score: 4, Informative

      Doctor who always has Christmas specials... or at least for the past several years. You just might not have realized it if you're in the US, because they tend to get played as season premieres. If you remember...

      • "The Christmas Invasion" - First David Tennant episode, aliens invade on Christmas
      • "The Runaway Bride" - Introduction to Donna Noble
      • "Voyage of the Damned" - Spaceship Titanic, Kylie Minogue appears
      • "The Next Doctor" - The Doctor runs into what appears to be a future version of himself, fights the Cybermen in the past
      • "The End of Time" - Last David Tennant episode

      All of these were Christmas specials. Many of them explicitly took place on Christmas, though I don't remember if they all do.

    4. Re:Christmas special? by asdf7890 · · Score: 4, Funny

      at least some of the episodes like "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" or "The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone" are far too dark for a children's show.

      Bah! Maybe American children. Hiding behind the sofa from the Doctor Who aliens is a right of passage for British children. Did you see the "Pandorica Opens" episode, where the severed cyberman helment pops open and the desicated skull pops out? The general reaction over here was: "my seven year old ran out of the room in fear - good episode!"

      A great example of this is Blink, the episode that introduced the weeping angles. My brother runs a gift shop (one of the Past Times chain) and at the time they were stocking some faux-porcelain statues that out of the corner of your eye did not look at all dissimilar. Kids would blunder in along with their parents, see these, go silent, and not take their eyes off them until they'd left the shop. Brilliant.

  2. Multi-year contracts by CommieLib · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.
  3. Re:Time to add a little crazy into that character by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hear Mel Gibson is available.

    Not sure they're looking to replace the Daleks.

  4. Re:The Sun eh... by Two9A · · Score: 5, Informative

    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
  5. Re:Time to add a little crazy into that character by Ukab+the+Great · · Score: 4, Insightful

    He'd make a amazing Davros.

  6. Karen Gillan says Matt is staying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    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

  7. Or... by Spad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

  8. It's time for a non-white Doctor by lseltzer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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?

  9. Who, M.D. by raguirre · · Score: 4, Funny

    If this rumour happens to be true, I think it's a good time to nominate Hugh Laurie for the next doctor...

  10. Re:Why do the best ones always leave early? by camperdave · · Score: 4, Funny

    "What do you mean the TARDIS isn't real?"
    "Matt... It's a set, just like everything else"
    "Well, if I can't have a real TARDIS, I'm leaving. And I'm taking the sonic screwdriver with me."
    "The sonic screwdriver? But that's just a... Oh! Nevermind."

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  11. Re:Time to add a little crazy into that character by TheWanderingHermit · · Score: 5, Informative

    It doesn't matter anyway. Slashdot was in such a hurry to get a headline people would react to, they didn't do their fact checking. He's not leaving:

    http://www.digitalspy.com/cult/s7/doctor-who/news/a246624/gillan-matt-smith-isnt-leaving-who.html

  12. Re:Time to add a little crazy into that character by h4rm0ny · · Score: 5, Funny


    Yeah, but the Daleks already hate everybody. The only way you could make them anti-semitic would be to make them nicer to everyone else.

    "BE-FORE WE EXTERMINATE YOU ALL, EVERY-ONE WILL GET A CUP OF TEAAA. EXCEPT FOR MIS-TERRR GOLDSTEIN! GOLDSTEIN GETS NO TEAA!"

    --

    Aide-toi, le Ciel t'aidera - Jeanne D'Arc.