Matt Smith to leave Doctor Who at end of the year.

[Cabisco]

Well, I liked Smith better than Tennant, for one thing. Shame to see him go, but then again, the guy replacing him...

Spoiler: SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO CANNOT COMPREHEND THAT A SPOILER TAB CONSTITUTES A SPOILER

John Hurt possibly being the next doctor might just be the most awesome thing ever.

It would be very cool but I suspect it's a one off.

I really did like Matt Smith and I get why he'd want to move on before getting stuck in one role, certainly will be interesting to see where they go from here and whether they keep 'the impossible girl' around.

 

[VoidWanderer]

Benedict Cumberbatch for the NEW Doctor!

I do understand why people didn't like Matt Smith, he definitely grated on me at the beginning of his run.

 

[BrotherRool]

Well, I liked Smith better than Tennant, for one thing. Shame to see him go, but then again, the guy replacing him...

Spoiler: SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO CANNOT COMPREHEND THAT A SPOILER TAB CONSTITUTES A SPOILER

John Hurt possibly being the next doctor might just be the most awesome thing ever.

The dude is like 70+ or something. As cool as that would be, you couldn't shoot a whole season with him and definitely not do anything action oriented

 

[Thaluikhain]

Wait a minute, first Susan Arendt announces she's leaving The Escapist, and now they announce we're getting a new Doctor? I smell conspiracy!

Susan Arendt is going to be the next Doctor?

Spoiler

 

[Lilani]

Spoiler: SPOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO CANNOT COMPREHEND THAT A SPOILER TAB CONSTITUTES A SPOILER

John Hurt possibly being the next doctor might just be the most awesome thing ever.

I don't think that'll happen. For reasons listed in this spoiler box:

Spoiler

John Hurt's Doctor has been, for all intents and purposes, kicked out of the line of Doctors. The other Doctors don't consider him a Doctor, and I doubt his storyline is going to end with his redemption. Perhaps a greater understanding of the Time War and what the Doctor did, and perhaps some acceptance and understanding of that part of his nature. But the fact is John Hurt is a past regeneration of the Doctor, in relation to Matt Smith's regeneration. Matt Smith can't regenerate into John Hurt's Doctor because that is a past version of himself, the "real" ninth Doctor. The Time War Doctor, the one that blew up Gallifrey.

I am a bit sad to see him go, but I think this is a good time to go. Better to leave when it still stings a bit than to overstay your welcome, just like the way Tennant left. Yes some of his series' have had some rough patches, but I feel like that has everything to do with the writing and nothing to do with Matt's interpretation of the Doctor. And, I'm also excited because this will be the first time I'll watch a new regeneration of the Doctor happen! I got into Doctor Who right around the end of Matt's second series, so when I saw David Tennant's regeneration for the first time I already knew what was going to happen and what sort of Doctor was going to emerge. And the same goes with the other Doctors. But now I get to watch history unfold just like other more experienced Whovians have in the past :3

 

[ShipofFools]

Just as I started to warm up to the chap again! Oh well, that's what I like so much about that show. Suddenly, everything changes.

 

[TimeLord]

Official BBC link for those who are interested:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22741493

OT: Not sure how I feel about this. I like Smith and his Doctor but everything ends eventually

 

[FalloutJack]

Let the endless debates on who the next Doctor is commence! (Hint: It's not John Hurt.)

 

[Catfood220]

I can exclusively reveal, to you good people of The Escapist that I am the next Doctor and I will be the most realistic Doctor ever. I have already had the scripts sent to me (yes, we are that far ahead), I'll give you a sample.

Clara: "Doctor, Daleks are attacking London!"
Doctor: "This again?"
Clara: "We have to do something."
Doctor: "Meh...I mean...my thats unfortunate...but...fixed point in time. Say, Clara, I never did thank you properly for saving me. Join me in the bedroom."

This of course is a late night special that children should not watch. Then, when my time as The Doctor comes to an end, The Doctor dies as he is out of regenerations. Obviously all the Doctors friends are incredibly upset. Cut to a month down the line, Clara finds out she is pregnant with The Doctors child. The child grows up to become the next Doctor.

And thats how they solve the problem of the limited regenerations.

On topic, I am sad to see Matt Smith bow out as The Doctor, I liked him a lot more than David Tennant. Mind you, I liked Christopher Ecclestone more than Tennant.

 

[EeveeElectro]

Hopefully Mary Sue Clara goes with him.

He was good and shall be missed but it's also exciting to see a new doctor and to not let one role determine your acting career.
Really looking forward to who they pick next, hope he won't have such a distracting forehead XD

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I have a number of issues with the new Doctor Who. The problem, that I see, is that it focuses far too strongly upon the tragedy of the life of the Doctor. While Tennant's run seemed to engage in a downward spiral after the first season in this regard, Smith's run has seemed to be little more than attempt to core to the heart of the matter. Smith's portrayal of the Doctor is, if I'm honest, probably the best version that I've experienced in that he seems to play the alien smarter-than-everyone-in-the-room chess master better than the other two but he remains my least favorite Doctor.

I begrudgingly accept his presence and have little opinion on the fact that he's leaving save for mild interest in who will replace him.

 

[BARQ]

I find with a long running show with so much fan investment and expectation, it's more a case of the writing than casting. Moffat had his fun, and I still think his best work was more his episodes penned during the Davies era instead of having whole seasons dedicated to his 'Dark Fairytale Oooohh' vibe of storytelling. It's all getting a bit Tim Burton-esque by giving us the same tricks every time.

Matt Smith had intimidatingly huge shoes to fill in the wake of Tennant's run, and I think he did a great job keeping the Doctor's character fairly youthful despite his age and jaded past, but still giving us a new spin on the character.
For me, Bow Ties will always be cool.

 

[chozo_hybrid]

I see alot of people making a big deal about number 13 coming up but lets face it. Doctor Who gets big raitings for the BBC. It is not going to end at 13. They will just say that he lied about the regen limit, or he got some more at some point and then we will get number 14.

The Master had managed to cheat the limit in the old Who stuff, so maybe the Doctor can, but the masters way involved the death of another if I remember correctly.

Also, haven't had the chance to see season 7 so no spoilers please people, use dem tags!

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

How much did I miss? I only saw the first season with Matt Smith, and while it did change lot from David Tennant, I still liked him.

 

[Thaluikhain]

I see alot of people making a big deal about number 13 coming up but lets face it. Doctor Who gets big raitings for the BBC. It is not going to end at 13. They will just say that he lied about the regen limit, or he got some more at some point and then we will get number 14.

Ah, but then when Clara and the Doctor visit his timeline, they see all his 11 faces and one John Hurt. She doesn't see any faces of any later regenerations.

Shame, really, if they knew who'd replace him, they could have Clara see him in there, or maybe have to save him from something like the others.

 

[Baron von Blitztank]

A shame really. I did like Matt Smith as The Doctor, the only problem I had was that he had a lot of shit material to work with. Seriously, I lose track on the amount of times everything is saved with "The Power of Love" but that's more a problem with the writer(s) than with Matt Smith. Still, as with every regeneration, I look forward to seeing who comes up next to play The Doctor and what they bring to the table.

 

[spartandude]

Im sad to see Smith go as he is my favorite doctor however please for the love of god take Moffat with you, seriously he is the one who is dragging this show down so much.

 

[Kaxbe]

I liked Matt Smith's portrayal of the Doctor. I just didn't like Moffat's writing for the Doctor. Moffat has said in the past that he would only stay on the show as long as Smith does, but knowing Moffat's stupid baby tendencies, he'll probably stick around longer to muck things up a bit more before laying his feet atop piles of Doctor Who scripts written by previous writers and smugly leaning back into his easy chair.