Regenerate! Doctor Who Replacing Matt Smith At The End Of The Current Season

Fans of Doctor Who better say their goodbyes to the show’s star Matt Smith, who will be leaving his role at the end of the season. Smith’s Doctor will regenerate during the 2013 Christmas special and get a brand new body (or in non-Doctor Who terms, a new actor will come in to fill the role.) Smith has been playing the Doctor for the past four seasons of the show (where did the time go?) having taken over from David Tennant in 2010. As you might imagine, that wasn’t an easy transition for the fans. There is likely to be a lot of nostalgia for “the old Doctor Who” after this change as well. As for Matt Smith, he has no regrets, saying for BBC news that working on the show has been "the most brilliant experience".

This season of the show is filled with surprises and big events for the Whovian community. After the show introduced a new companion to the Doctor, played by Jenna-louise Coleman, its 50th anniversary special is due during the series’ fall season. Smith has already filmed the special episode, which will feature cameo appearances by DW alumni David Tennant and Billie Piper. Referring to his time-travelling companions, Amy (Karen Gillan), Rory (Arthur Darvill) and Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman), Smith said: "It's been an honour to play this part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the Tardis for a spell with 'the ginger, the nose and the impossible one'. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go..."

During the announcement of Smith’s departure, head writer Steven Moffat expressed his admiration for the youngest actor to ever play the Doctor: "Every day, on every episode, in every set of rushes, Matt Smith surprised me. The way he'd turn a line, or spin on his heels, or make something funny, or out of nowhere make me cry - I just never knew what was coming next.

"The Doctor can be clown and hero - often at the same time - and Matt rose to both challenges magnificently. And even better than that, given the pressures of this extraordinary show, he is one of the nicest and hardest-working people I have ever had the privilege of knowing. Whatever we threw at him - sometimes literally - his behaviour was always worthy of the Doctor." No news yet on who will come in to replace the departing actor.

Karren Gillan and Arthur Darvill played the Doctor's previous companions.