A recent announcement has revealed that Matt Smith has been cast in the lead role of Ryan Gosling’s directional debut film, How to Catch a Monster. Is it the end for the Eleventh Doctor?
Co-starring with Christina Hendricks (Drive), who plays the lead role in the film, the story is ‘set against the surreal dreamscape of a vanishing city’ and will see her character as a ‘single mother of two being swept into a macabre and dark fantasy underworld while her teenage son discovers a secret road leading to an underwater town’.
Now, while you might be interested in what part Matt is playing in the film, you’re more than likely more concerned with what his casting means. You might, for example, be thinking that if he has the time to make a movie, will he still be able to make Doctor Who?
The answer is, most probably, yes. But of course, we don’t know for certain.
The BBC ‘s scheduling for Doctor Who has been erratic at best for the past few years and the filming has taken place at different points throughout the years rather than in the regular six month block that it had when the show first came back. Perhaps the BBC in their infinite wisdom have decided to create more flexible filming months for Doctor Who in order to give their actors more time to work on other projects rather than turning them down. Filming for the fiftieth anniversary special will take place in April, then there’ll be a break and then work on the Christmas special and we can hopefully expect Series 8 to enter production later in the year.
This leaves more than enough time for Smith to pop to Hollywood and make a movie.
Let’s just hope they give him back…
I won’t worry too much about this. Matt has done other things while still making Doctor Who, like Christopher & His Kind. Just because he does a movie here and there doesn’t mean we have to freak out over it. Keep Calm & Carry On.
Anniversary special supposed to start filming in April, Matts film starts filming in May.
So they will have to make sure its all done before he goes.When he did Christopher & his kind I believe Dr Who wasn’t been currently filmed.
I dunno… Something’s not right. With the BBC cuts, conflicting information about how many episodes we’re getting this year etc, split seasons, only getting one 60 minute 50th special, etc… Now this. I shall remain hopeful, but we’ve been very patient, and it would be nice if they just came out straight and be honest with us.
I could obviously be wrong, but I think Matt will make his departure at the end of or halway through Series 8. I do think that the shooting schedules for Doctor Who are being made adaptable to the actors doing different projects, Matt right now, and whoever takes over from him. This will obviously make taking the role more attractive to future actors, as they will still have the freedom to pursue other roles while playing the Doctor.
Meant at the end of or halfway through Series 8…………
He definitely could make this between DW breaks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Matt left sometime during season 8–I really think it would be cool to have a Doctor regenerate halfway throught the season instead of (predictably) at the end. I also hope the new companion–hopefully Clara/Oswin–stays to provide some continuity. OR, maybe JLC could be the first female Doctor? Yes, please!
If the BBC can work out the scheduling to let Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch fly to New Zealand to film The Hobbit trilogy, i’m sure they can make room for Matt to nip to America for a few weeks to film a movie.
What’s more likely to lead to his departure is if the movie is a success, which would lead to more job offers and an increase in the amount of cash the BBC would need to offer him for each series. The BBC may opt to let him leave and replace him with another cheap “nobody”.
Everybody panics when one of the actors picks up a role in-between seasons. Sheesh! Karen Gillan made a movie and came back. This is actually the third film Smith has made since being cast (he snuck in Womb after being cast but before filming began, and then Christopher and His Kind). Everybody came back, and everything was fine. If Smith was cast in something like The Hobbit that would keep him away for months on end, or if he’d been cast as the new James Bond, then I’d be worried. But he won’t be more than a month or two on this project and then he’ll be back in time to shoot Series 8 for airing in the spring of 2014. I wish people would stop casting conspiracy theories (reading some of the comments). There is nothing new here that hasn’t happened with a bunch of other shows, move along.
I see no panicking here, merely speculation and consideration of the facts as we know them…