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Doctor Who--Speculations ahoy!
Jun. 1st, 2013 03:47 pmSo, Matt Smith is leaving after the Christmas special, despite his (and other people's) earlier statements about staying for another year. Pretty definitive statements too.
So what happened? Was Matt just blowing smoke when asked previously? He did always add, "But I take it from year to year," so it's possible he was just trying to deflect the question--he may not have made up his mind, or he may have been in some kind of negotiations, or he may have just been acting as a "good soldier" and keeping his mouth shut.
Or...or he may have been planning on staying for another year and either something changed his mind or something, er, changed it for him. Perhaps he hasn't been as happy over the past half-year as he's said. Maybe (as my lovely wife speculated) he saw some of the scripts being developed for series 34/8 and didn't like what he saw. Maybe the film he's been shooting recently went well enough that Matt thinks it's time to move on to bigger and better things. (That's certainly a strong possibility in my mind.)
Or...or maybe someone at the BBC is less than thrilled with the lower overnight ratings the show's been getting since 33B started. Like, much lower overnights. Admittedly, the final ratings have been decent (though not quite as high as the past few years) and the iPlayer stats are really good, but it's still possible that the Beeb is worried enough that they've decided on a change. The fact there's been a bit of a revolving Exec Producer chair for the past few years might give some indication that there could be some interference from above.
Or, and I'll admit that this might seem less than exciting to people, the situation might be just what it seems to be: Matt Smith, while having vague plans about how long he'd be staying on as the Doctor, just decided it was the right time to move on for whatever reason. I honestly think the fact that he's starring in a film lensing here in the U.S. might have something to do with it. But I'm thinking we won't really know the facts until years from now, if ever. But that's not gonna stop the speculation--beware of message boards between now and Christmas!
What does this mean for Moffat? He's supposedly started working on next year's scripts already, but will he really be involved in the casting of a second Doctor? Or will we see another announcement soon? And Jenna Louise-Coleman is supposed to be back next year, but will she really survive Christmas?
One thing's for sure--we will have have a new Doctor in 2014. It's my hope, as much as I've really liked Matt Smith, that we'll get someone totally different in the part--I'm thinking as different as Tom Baker was from Jon Pertwee. If the show needs a refreshment, I think something completely different might be in order.
Well, I guess we'll find out at Christmas...what do you guys think about it all?
So what happened? Was Matt just blowing smoke when asked previously? He did always add, "But I take it from year to year," so it's possible he was just trying to deflect the question--he may not have made up his mind, or he may have been in some kind of negotiations, or he may have just been acting as a "good soldier" and keeping his mouth shut.
Or...or he may have been planning on staying for another year and either something changed his mind or something, er, changed it for him. Perhaps he hasn't been as happy over the past half-year as he's said. Maybe (as my lovely wife speculated) he saw some of the scripts being developed for series 34/8 and didn't like what he saw. Maybe the film he's been shooting recently went well enough that Matt thinks it's time to move on to bigger and better things. (That's certainly a strong possibility in my mind.)
Or...or maybe someone at the BBC is less than thrilled with the lower overnight ratings the show's been getting since 33B started. Like, much lower overnights. Admittedly, the final ratings have been decent (though not quite as high as the past few years) and the iPlayer stats are really good, but it's still possible that the Beeb is worried enough that they've decided on a change. The fact there's been a bit of a revolving Exec Producer chair for the past few years might give some indication that there could be some interference from above.
Or, and I'll admit that this might seem less than exciting to people, the situation might be just what it seems to be: Matt Smith, while having vague plans about how long he'd be staying on as the Doctor, just decided it was the right time to move on for whatever reason. I honestly think the fact that he's starring in a film lensing here in the U.S. might have something to do with it. But I'm thinking we won't really know the facts until years from now, if ever. But that's not gonna stop the speculation--beware of message boards between now and Christmas!
What does this mean for Moffat? He's supposedly started working on next year's scripts already, but will he really be involved in the casting of a second Doctor? Or will we see another announcement soon? And Jenna Louise-Coleman is supposed to be back next year, but will she really survive Christmas?
One thing's for sure--we will have have a new Doctor in 2014. It's my hope, as much as I've really liked Matt Smith, that we'll get someone totally different in the part--I'm thinking as different as Tom Baker was from Jon Pertwee. If the show needs a refreshment, I think something completely different might be in order.
Well, I guess we'll find out at Christmas...what do you guys think about it all?
