Why is Matt Smith Leaving Doctor Who?

Matt Smith will be joined by his predecessor, David Tenant, for the 50th Anniversary Special of Doctor Who in November. In December we will see the end of Smith as the 11th Doctor, just like 4 years ago we saw the end of Tenant's run as The Doctor and met Matt Smith as the frenetic and hyper new Doctor.

While David Tenant had been energetic, humorous, frenetic also, he often played it close to the vest; but nailing it with a climactic heart-breaking scene to close out many episodes; including holding the dying Master in his arms and his own dramatic death and regeneration.

Then we got to see Matt Smith. He's schizophrenic, always intense whether serious, brokenhearted, or crazy; his ride as The Doctor was a non-stop roller-coaster: There was no playing close to the vest.

And now the intensity, like all things, must come to an end. The roller-coaster known as the 11th Doctor will regenerate on Christmas 2013, and we will be introduced to Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor.

Why is Matt Smith leaving?

This is the common process for Doctor Who. Tenant was there in that role for three years and said when it is time it's time. Matt Smith says so too. He's said this is what propels this show, what makes it great: Knowing the right time to leave to catapult the show further, to never let it grow stale. Like others in that role before him, he's in love with the part and the story and knows he might stay there far too long for the show's own good, or even for his own good because no actor wants to be type-cast. It's time to move on.

There is no getting around one undeniable fact: Death, loss, ending is part of life. If you are going to explore time, you can't neglect ending. As much as The Doctor hates endings, he is perpetually faced with them. The Eleventh Doctor was joined by Amy Pond, the Girl Who Waited, and Rory, the man who waited for Amy Pond, he was bound to them, loved them and had to see them go. It was heart-wrenching. He broke down.

And he met Clara, the Impossible Girl, who saved him from the Daleks, who urged him to Run, You Clever Boy.

And now she will have to see him go.

You love, live, break through and end.

This is life. And ending brings regeneration, the new. Ending is necessary.