I've got another year of Doctor Who ...

TV Oh dear, Matt's past tensing. Eccleston fans will know what that means:

"Well, hopefully soon, you know. I've got another year of Doctor Who, but then I'm certainly going to come and give it a shot, come and hang out in LA... as you say, people like Andy [Garfield] have come over, and he's a mate of mine. I'm very proud to see him doing Spider-Man, 'cause we did a play together, and, you know, Spider-Man now. It's incredible. And he'll be brilliant, he'll be so brilliant."

That still, potentially, (depending on this stuff) puts him into 2013 and it seems right that there should be a regeneration in the show's fiftieth year. But we'all had been led to believe he'd be sticking around for at least a couple more years.

I bet he just means, film another year, move to LA and hang out then come back and film another. Yes, I'm sure that's it. Or it will be once he and Moffat and everyone else connected with the show have had to endure the same question for the next twelve months. "So I just wanted to ask, is Matt leaving at the end of the next series?"

Update! 24/10/2011 Yes, indeed, he's gone. From Radio Times:

"Speaking in an interview in the new issue of Radio Times, he told Gareth McLean, “When I finish [Doctor Who], I’ll be…” before checking himself and continuing, “Well, I don’t know how old I’ll be, but by the end of next year I’ll be 29 so…”

He would have been no good on Spooks would he?

Update!  28/10/2011  Or is he?  New comments promoting the Season Six shiny disc release at the Press Association:

"We work very long hours every day for nine months. The schedule is pretty brutal, but I'd never complain about it. I love playing this role, and I don't want to give it up any time soon," he continued.

"I feel very lucky. In the current climate for actors, I'd never say, 'This is too much' - quite the opposite, in fact. I'd say, 'Bring it on'."

David Tennant said he didn't want to give up Doctor Who after he'd announced he was leaving because he'd decided it was time to go.  We'll see.

Update! 29/2/2012 He's changed his tune a bit in this report from Daybreak:



To paraphrase: he's not going to stop playing the Doctor any time soon.