OMG Matt Smith Hasta La Vista I'll Be Back

[Pip Madeley]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7698539.stm

He just announced it live at the NTA Awards.

A sad day.

[duncan]

Yes I just saw it, but posted it on the Tennant Set to Quit thread just below this.

I am genuinely shocked and saddened.

[Wayne]

I am genuinely shocked and saddened.

I'm not.

[Pip Madeley]

I wanted to cry a little but my flatmate would've laughed his arse off.

I knew it was likely, but I hoped he would stay for one more series. I wasn't this sad when Eccleston left, mainly because I'd hardly got to know his Doctor by the time it was announced. Tennant was my first real long-term Doctor and I'm sad he's going...

Question is - Who's next?

[Jeff]

F*@k!

[Logo Polish]

I'm not.

Breaking out the champers time at Wayne and Ralph's places tonight, I guess...

It's not that surprising really, as there's been speculation for a while, and he's notched up a reasonably solid run now. The most interesting thing about these kind of announcements is guessing who the replacement's going to be.

[Milky Tears]

It's old news.

[Pip Madeley]

I honestly think David Morrissey is the next Doctor.

[Captain Tancredi]

I'll believe it when I see it.

Oh.

BBC News 24 must have broken it simultaneously with the awards and then went to a pre-recorded interview after the 8.30 bulletin. To be honest I'm glad of the clarity, but then again part of me does remember the odd downbeat feeling in 1983-4 of knowing that the Doctor's days were numbered but not just yet. Hopefully the specials will be written so as not to allow it to detract from the drama.

What it does mean, of course, is that the 2010 series will effectively be a new show from top to bottom- Steven Moffat is basically inheriting the idea and a few basic trappings, as Russell T Davies did five years ago, with all the opportunities and pitfalls that brings with it.

[Wayne]

Breaking out the champers time at Wayne and Ralph's places tonight, I guess...

I really did honestly try my best to like him though. But you can't force it.
That's not to say i thought he was rubbish all the time. I'd still cite 'Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel' as an example of when he got it bang on. And were some great Doctor moments throughout his whole run. But i'm afraid in the long run it's eclipsed by too much silliness, & basically being a fanboy Tom Baker wannabe. He just wasn't original enough. Even McCoy was original if nothing else.

[Antony Cox]

I'm not that fussed. He's grown on me as time went buy and overall I think he was a good Doctor, but everyone's time comes. We've still got a few more stories to go yet, and until next Christmas we'll have all the fun of speculating about Who's next?

[Captain Tancredi]

And by the way, was anybody else thinking of the Android's Dungeon Guy from the Simpsons when they scuttled online in the last half-hour?

[Dirk Gently]

It's not that surprising really, as there's been speculation for a while, and he's notched up a reasonably solid run now. The most interesting thing about these kind of announcements is guessing who the replacement's going to be.

I agree with you there. It doesn't come as a shock & the speculation of David Morrissey being the nest Doctor or not is fun. But no, I'm not surprised.

[duncan]

I remember there was once a change of producer and Doctor way back in 1973. The first season with both newbies at the helm in 1974 saw the start of what has argubly become one of the most successful era's in the shows history.

Let's hope 2010 sees a repeat of that.

[Larry]

just very quickly my thoughts are sad he's going but in a way pleased he's going as I think if he had stayed for what would of been his 4th series there would be a danger of him getting stale just like Tom Baker did in his final few seasons.

[Milky Tears]

squeeeeeeeee.....

OMFG!! I already hate the next Doctor for destroying everything, lacking gravitarse, ripping off Pertwee/Baker/Davidsone/McCoy/Eccleessstones sublime portrayal and being younger than me! FFS!! THEY SHOULD SACK THE GURNING **** BEFORE THEY'VE BEEN CAST!! I'M GOING TO WATCH COLONY IN SPACE ON A LOOP FOR FIVE YEARS!

[Wayne]

That poster can't even spell Davidstone right.

[Si Hunt]

I don't think they'd introduce Morrissey in a special and then have Tennant the Doctor again for the next year... I also don't think they'd want the publicity surrounding a new Doctor 'blown' a year beforehand.

Si.

[Wayne]

Breaking out the champers time at Wayne and Ralph's places tonight, I guess...

Oh and Ralph won't even know about it unless they sneak it onto the next Pertwee dvd somehow.

[Kaybee Bailey]

Not surprising really and probably about the right time.For me it's the first time ever I'm getting the sadness-fear-excitement thing of a whole new Doctor. After all, we knew Eccleston was going before we'd seen much of him in the role, so this time it feels more like a genuine change. Which is terrifying and brilliant.

I've been wondering for a while how the new fans - the kids will deal with losing Tennant. I still do wonder, (although those who swore never to watch again when Rose left seem to be hanging in there) but I guess the longer he stays the harder it would be to make a change stick so it's probably for the best in the long run.

[Pip Madeley]

Not surprising really and probably about the right time.For me it's the first time ever I'm getting the sadness-fear-excitement thing of a whole new Doctor. After all, we knew Eccleston was going before we'd seen much of him in the role, so this time it feels more like a genuine change. Which is terrifying and brilliant.

I've been wondering for a while how the new fans - the kids will deal with losing Tennant. I still do wonder, (although those who swore never to watch again when Rose left seem to be hanging in there) but I guess the longer he stays the harder it would be to make a change stick so it's probably for the best in the long run.

I feel that sadnesss/fear/excitement the same as you Kaybee, it's weird. Most of you are used to it, but we're not!

[Dave Lewis]

Morrissey isn't ... oh wait a minute - this is a spoiler-free thread, innit?

I think David Tennant was phenomenal for a great deal of his time as the Doctor; I'm more saddened by the fact that, in my opinion, he - and the show as a whole - was more a series of highlights amid lowlights during his second two series than I am by the completely unsurprising news that he's going at the same time as Russell Davies.

I think what is a bit saddening is the fact that David Tennant, in terms of the brand that is Doctor Who, is the Doctor. I know that regeneration is a major tenement of the show as a whole but in every magazine, every toyshop window and on every DVD cover the main man of this amazingly popular programme is DT. I think that for a lot of people - particularly young children - his departure will be a massive test of the popularity of the programme.

Then again, Toyah Wilcox forgot William Hartnell by the end of part one of "Power of the Daleks" - I'm also certain that kids today are more discerning than she is and thus it probably won't be a problem; when James Nesbitt takes over they'll accept it like a free copy of the Yellow Pages on the front doorstep.

[Andrew Curnow]

I turned on the TV Awards just for ten minutes before I had to go and pick up Little Miss from a party... and just as I turned it on, they cut to Mr Tennant making his speech, and then announcing he was going!!! What good timing on my part!

I'm not wholly surprised, but I am surprisingly a little sad. I didn't warm to his Doctor AT ALL until Fear Her (although oddly enough, rewatching his earlier stories since then I've actually really enjoyed him in them, so maybe it's just me) but since then, and especially during season 3, I really took to him in a big way. He's had a good run, and honestly nobody is likely to stay for seven years nowadays.

The cynic in me wonders if the announcement was timed so that when, in a fortnight, the vast viewing public sees The Next Doctor on Children in Need night, they'll assume he genuinely is the next Doctor, rather than automatically assume it's some kind of trick. Personally, unless Moffat is involved with this special (and I've not heard anything to suggest he is) then I can't believe Morrisey is the genuine 11th Doctor - it would be a bit mean of RTD to cast somebody, establish his look and (presumably) character, and then effectively lumber Moffat with a fait d'accompli.

So, at least this time around we can look forward to a good few weeks (maybe a good few months - I can see them wanting to hold off any announcement until at least after the Christmas special has aired) of 'who will he/she be' speculation, just like the good old days.

Exciting times (as ever)!

[Alex]

It's funny, just as I was beginning to find his portrayal of the Doctor really appealing, he ups and leaves. Not that he didn't have a lot of great episodes during the first two years, but I felt that it was his third season where he really settled in to the role and gave consistently brilliant performances and finally laid the ghost of Ecclescake to rest.

It is a bit of a shame then, and I really think he should have done at least half a series with Moffat - a mid-season regeneration could have been a lot of fun and delivered on what Rusty almost promised us in the final two episodes of S.3 - but I'm not that bothered as long as whoever plays the new Doctor fits the role.

I've got to say I'm a bit relieved that Jack Davenport's tied up with a new HBO drama Swingtown though, so unless that gets cancelled it definitely won't be him...And I'm hoping Richard Coyle finds great success in the next year so that he won't be cast either.

[Dave Lewis]

I seem to be in a minority about when Tennant was at his best...