‘Doctor Who’ season 8: Matt Smith confident series will stay strong without him

Matt Smith has to be getting rather used to American soil this summer. The actor was in Detroit for several weeks last month shooting a film directed by Ryan Gosling, and ever since this past weekend really, he has occupied a great deal of time being in Los Angeles. He was present in San Diego for a thrilling round at Comic-Con, where the BBC unveiled a “Doctor Who” 50th anniversary special trailer that they are still not sharing with the rest of the world (enter groans of frustration), and today he was a part of the TCAs in promotion of “Doctor Who” on BBC America.

For much of the day, the commentary from the folks at the network was more of the same exact thing. There are no plans in place right now for the 12th Doctor, that the plan is to create a great send-off in the Christmas special, and so on. Smith took a lighthearted approach to his exit here, saying with his usual wit that the show can get better even without him on it:

“The show has come to sort of a natural tipping point. It’s at the top of a cycle and it’s a good time for me and the show … The thing about [The Doctor] is [that] he always looks forward. The show will get bigger and better and will carry on without me.”

Now, let’s be real: No one will “replace” Smith, just like no one was able to really “replace” David Tennant. It just doesn’t happen when you have people that are this ridiculously talented. Really, the best thing that you can possibly hope for is that you find people who are great at what they do, and they bring something that is unique to the show.

Now, let’s turn this over to you: Do you think that we’ll have a great “Doctor Who” season 8 without Matt Smith, or do you base this entirely on whoever the BBC sticks aboard the TARDIS next? While we don’t have a trailer link for you, you can click here to see what Smith had to say about working with Tennant and also John Hurt.

Photo: BBC One