DOCTOR WHO: Matt Smith and Marcus Wilson on the 11th Doctor’s Exit

Later this year, DOCTOR WHO will say goodbye to its 11th Doctor.

“I’ve done it for four years, and it we shoot nine, ten months a year,” Matt Smith (The Doctor) told reporters at the BBC America Television Critics Association session. “And I think the show is it has come to a sort of a natural tipping point, and it’s at the top of a cycle, and I think I don’t know really. It’s a good time for me and for the show. But I’ve had a great time. I’ll miss it, and it was a hard choice. It wasn’t an easy choice to make.”

Which means that Smith has since wondered if he made the correct choice to walk away from the iconic role.

“I have pondered it on several occasions, and I ponder it and think, ‘I’ve made a huge mistake. What am I doing? Don’t leave,'” Smith admitted. “I mean, it’s transformed my career. It sort of is my career to a certain extent…and, you know, it’s been wonderful for my life and my family’s life. And I guess, you know, the thing you take most from it is the without sounding too earnest about it, is the friendships. I’ve made some very dear friends. But I don’t know. I think Steven Moffat is one of the best writers on the planet. And yeah, you know, one hopes that it sort of sets you up to get other work. But, you know, it’s just actors, we go, we audition. I’m the same as anyone else. You know what I mean? Just because I’ve done DOCTOR WHO doesn’t give me any divine right to walk into other jobs.”

As for the show Smith is leaving behind, the quest is now on to find a new Doctor.

“I think the important thing for us is we want to give Matt the sendoff he deserves,” executive producer Marcus Wilson said. “We want to send the 11th Doctor out with a bang. So coming after the 50th anniversary, which has been our most ambitious episode yet, everybody wants to top that…and really give 11 the proper sendoff…[who will replace him is] all being worked out at the moment. The thing is, at the moment, we’re concentrating on Matt’s sendoff, so that’s the next stage after that.”

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