When Matt Smith Leaves ‘Doctor Who,’ ‘You Will Cry,’ Promises Steven Moffat

Today’s Comic Con brought us the Doctor Who panel during one of the most important times in the series’ history. Not only is the 50th Anniversary of the series soon approaching, but the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, is departing during the Christmas special this year. “Oh, you will cry” when the 11th Doctor leaves, promised Who showrunner, Steven Moffat.

Hosted by Craig Ferguson, the panel featured Matt Smith; the current companion, Jenna Louise Coleman; Moffat; Mark Gatiss (who has just been cast in Game of Thrones), and David Bradley, who will play the first doctor in An Adventure in Space and Time, a one-off special telling the origin of Doctor Who as part of the 50th Anniversay special celebration.

Speaking of the 50th Anniversary special, we have all been lead to believe that neither the 9th Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, or John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness will return. However, as Steven Moffat told the audience, “”I’ve lied my arse off for months – you know nothing, so don’t make presumptions.” Who knows, however, what those lies are in reference to.

As for the 12th Doctor, Craig Ferguson tried to weasel out the identity of the next star. However, Steven Moffant insisted that casting is “not a done deal yet.” I suspect, even if it was, Moffat wouldn’t reveal that secret at an American venue.

However, the big news to come out of the panel was the release of the 50th Anniversary special, much to the dismay of British fans on the series, who have taken to Twitter to complain that a British product that they pay the license fee for shouldn’t have had a trailer premiere in the United States. Who fans on both sides of the continent, however, are upset that the trailer hasn’t been released on Youtube, though Steven Moffat said that if even ONE bootleg is leaked, he won’t release any more sneak peaks to Comic Con goers. We do know, however, that the one-minute trailer has nice banter between the 10th and 11th Doctors and, apparently, an appearance from both Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) and the Daleks.

One British journalist is claiming that the trailer will NOT be released at all to YouTube, while much of the rest of Twitter seems to believe that its release is pending. If it does pop up, we’ll post it as soon as possible.

… and for funsies, here’s Matt Smith walking the Comic Con floor disguised at Bart Simpson.

Here’s a few images from the panel.

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