Guest contributor Greig Robertson ponders if Matt Smith might actually depart in the 50th Anniversary.

Like most Whovians, I am not looking forward to Christmas, not because I know the first present I open will be a set of socks, or a gift voucher for a shop I will never visit, it’s because we will be saying goodbye to the 11th Doctor or will we be saying cheerio to him slightly sooner?

We all know the BBC have made a right hash of it over the last few months, what with the finale DVD leak, the 50th Anniversary Trailer being shown at Comic Con and then not being shown to the rest of us dedicated Whovians, the news that the next Doctor would be revealed on a live show hours before it was due to be announced. So it’s no surprise that there are a few whispers of Matt Smith’s exit as the Doctor actually coming in the 50th Anniversary.

A few weeks ago I was listening to a radio show which was discussing the identity of the 12th, and I just happened to hear the broadcaster mention “Matt Smith’s final episode as the 11th Doctor will be the 50th Anniversary Special which will be broadcast on the 23rd November this year”. A simple mistake I thought. I mean it wouldn’t be the first time I heard a radio host getting mixed up with Doctor Who before. However, after a bit of thinking, I started to think, and ponder and I came up with a few theories. Shortly after filming the 50th anniversary special, Matt jetted off to L.A. to work on Ryan Gosling’s upcoming film “How to Catch a Monster”, and we were painfully treated to the sight of Matt with a bald hair do, discarding the funky cool hair style we all fell in love with.

After seeing the photos thoughts started rushing through my head. Why would Matt cut his hair, especially going bald, knowing he had one more episode of Doctor Who left and knowing it may not grow back in time for the beginning of filming in September? And that’s when I remembered listening to that radio show, it made sense slightly, we all couldn’t understand why.

I also heard a rumor on the internet which was about Matt, and that he had already filmed his regeneration scene, and quite a fair group of people mentioned that his final episode was really the 50th anniversary. Yes, it’s easy to stick a wig on him, but what if this all another clever ploy by Moffat to cause pain and surprise to the whole fandom? Or is this all just a slight coincidence? I didn’t think any more of it. Until…

I was surfing the net looking at Facebook, when I came across a picture post from a Doctor Who page I like: it was a post of Peter Capaldi’s past and future roles in Doctor Who and it listed in the appearance section of his DW career the 50th Anniversary Special in November 23rd 2013. I was unsure at first, and then the whole thing with the radio show came back, along with my theory on Matt’s haircut, the rumor about him having already filmed his regeneration scene, and now this. I started pacing up and down my room with nerve and feeling scared.

If my rumour proves to be correct, then what I want to know is why the BBC and Steven Moffat are lying to us. What do they get out this apart from the joy of breaking our hearts? Another thing which I find slightly weird is the fact the Moffat has openly talked about the Christmas special script, what specific stage it’s at, I find it all too strange. Like most of you, I hope this won’t be true, but if it is, then I’d grab the nearest tissue box and your bowties, fezzes and whatever is huggable, I don’t recommend your siblings.