Rumour from The Sun (potential spoiler)

[Anthony Williams]

So, The Sun claims that Amy will die...

DR WHO'S sidekick Amy Pond may be KILLED OFF in the next series - in a shock mid-season twist.

The much-anticipated sixth series will be split in two next year, boss Steven Moffat said yesterday.

And he teased fans by saying the series will take a break at Easter with a dramatic storyline - leaving viewers "needing the summer to recover".

And we can reveal that killing off Amy is the devastating plot twist favoured by bosses.

A source told TV Biz that Karen Gillan, who plays Amy, WILL leave before the end of the next season.

If scriptwriters stick to plans to kill her off, she will be the first of the Timelord's companions to die since Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) in 1982.

Steven Moffat yesterday promised an "enormous earth-shattering cliffhanger" halfway through the series.

Seven episodes will be shown up to Easter, followed by six in autumn.

He said: "In order to let you have time to recover we will let you go off and have your summer holidays and then come back in autumn."

The move will bolster BBC1's autumn schedule as rival The X Factor will move to later in the year in 2011 - with only auditions in December.

Steven, who will film three Sherlock episodes in the summer break, added: "You will never be further than a few months from an episode."


He said the Doctor (Matt Smith) and his sidekick will face a "game-changing" moment.

He added: "It's a huge event. An episode of Dr Who that's not scary is failing the children of this nation."

Steven - speaking at a Dr Who masterclass in the Edinburgh television festival - was asked whether the cliffhanger is "the biggest of Dr Who in the modern era".

He replied: "It's a good one. I know word-for-word what it is."

Steven also told how he had almost not hired stunning Scot Karen for the role after seeing her in a show reel that made her look "short and dumpy".

He added: "Then I saw her in the corridor and she was so tall and beautiful. When she is in heels I feel like the sidecar to a motorbike."

Karen yesterday was coy about the climax - and how long she would remain in the show. She said at the festival: "I have no idea. I guess you just have to take it series by series.

"Who knows? But I'm having a lot of fun right now."

Are you excited by this possibility? Will Amy be the Adric of the Moffat era? Discuss!

Ant x

[Alex]

I'm unconvinced. I'm pretty sure they're just taking a punt on what the "enormous earth-shattering cliffhanger" could be, but without actually knowing. We've gone through companions all too quickly recently as well, so it'd be nice for one to stick around longer than Rose did.

[Dino]

I'm also unconvinced, but that's only because we'll get a timey-wimey cop out.
Depending on this story being true of course!
If I was the producer I'd have loads of false plot lines to annoy and confuse showbiz tabloid journalists nationwide!
Look, they are always going on about "Matt Smith to quit! An unnamed source reveals..." so I don't think the producers owe these newspapers anything!

[SiHart]

Only if they kill her for good this time. The last series relied on the death card with the come back alive thing attached, so it would have to be meaningful and be an actual death for it to make an impact.

Si xx

[WhiteCrowNZ]

Yeah - this is in danger of becoming the Buffy of Sci Fi.

Problem is RTD kept having people say "(Rose) will die so very young" and "the most favourite companion will die", but just meaning it metaphorically. Now Moffat uses death and blowing up the TARDIS, but with a get out clause.

Killing off characters for ratings does seem a very cheap soap opera way of trying to create ratings or tension.

A far better cliffhanger would be to have Amy left behind in some kind of abandaned / impossible position.

And a far better thing to do for dramatic reasons is to use Amy's uniqueness. She's married, but travelling with the Doctor. Would be interesting to have her grow apart slowly from the Doctor, and feel at the end of the day travelling with him is stopping her getting on with her own life. Would Amy still continue to travel with the Doctor for instance if she found she was pregnant? Or would it be too dangerous for her child?

[Larry]

Only if they kill her for good this time. The last series relied on the death card with the come back alive thing attached, so it would have to be meaningful and be an actual death for it to make an impact.

Si xx

well i'd like to think that having used it once Moffatt, wouldn't be stupid enough to use it a second time.

Killing off characters for ratings does seem a very cheap soap opera way of trying to create ratings or tension.

sadly tv today is all about ratings -it takes a brave producer to kill off a companion and when you look back over the years with the dangerous situations the companions have gotten into more should really have been killed off.

[Si Hunt]

It won't mean anything for me, because last years finale killed her off as well so I'll just be expecting her to come back to life. Sorry, they blew that one this year.

with only auditions in December.

Odd thing to say - like the auditions arn't really that popular. Certainly the early stages of "The X-Factor" get huge ratings, and many people prefer the audition rounds.

Si.

[Awesome Wells]

It won't mean anything for me, because last years finale killed her off as well so I'll just be expecting her to come back to life. Sorry, they blew that one this year.

Exactly - they've painted themselves into a corner with that one; not to mention killing off Rory, or the Doctor, or the whole universe. In the words of the Barenakedladies, "It's all been done."

I have faith that the Moff will have some splendidness up his sleeve, but all this talk of BIGGEST AND BEST CLIFFHANGERS EVER is a bit worrying. The only thing I can think of is

Perhaps a 'dark Doctor' type occurrence: akin to what they could and should have done with Tennant at the end of that one where he was all 'I'm last of the Time Lords, now watch me be a bastard' for about ten seconds. If the Doctor comes over all Zagreus (or just bad for his own twisted reasons) and kills Amy (or something equally awful) that would leave everyone wondering what the f**k is going on. It could, of course, be a massive, Colin-Baker-sized disaster leaving everyone thinking they didn't like the Doctor any more for the summer. But then again, who knows? It's a possibility, though. Innit?

[Si Hunt]

There are surely a thousand big cliffhangers they could create for next year - we have no idea what sticky situation the Doctor will be in by the middle of next season. It could all hinge on if the Warriors of the Great Intelligence have broken through the jury-rigged Timescape Mirrors in the guise of the AmyDarkling and if Rory and the Doctor can fly the twin TARDISes through the gap in the Timescape before the Doctor's regeneration is triggered by the exploding planet he is holding back with his artificially created Gallifreyan Hive Mind.

Either that or they will indeed just have a companion's death being stunningly foretold for the fourth year running.

Si.

[P-Bal]

Bump her off, the sour faced little ditch rat!

[Jeff]

As many times as I've read the words 'earth shattering' I'm expecting Planet Earth to be destroyed.

[Larry]

As many times as I've read the words 'earth shattering' I'm expecting Planet Earth to be destroyed.

soon followed by a big bright red re-switch button being pressed..

[duncan]

As many times as I've read the words 'earth shattering' I'm expecting Planet Earth to be destroyed.

It could have something to do with the Tardis being destroyed with all on board which was mooted at when The Doctor forund a part of the tardis in Amy's crack!

[Si Hunt]

Well the TARDIS WAS destroyed but then... well, something happened, God knows what, and then it wasn't.

Si.