Doctor's girl Amy says goodbye to the Tardis: Karen Gillan to leave role as Time Lord's assistant



Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan is leaving her role as the Time Lord’s assistant, it was revealed last night.



The flame-haired actress, who plays Amy Pond, will exit the hit BBC1 show in the next series as she and her on-screen husband Rory (Arthur Darvill) meet a ‘heart-breaking end’.



This will spark the search for a new assistant, a role which has previously been played by the likes of Catherine Tate and Billie Piper.



Departure: Karen Gillan, seen here with Matt Smith, is to leave Doctor Who in the next series

Ex-model Miss Gillan, 23, made her debut appearance in 2010, and has been popular with viewers because of her trademark mini-skirts and on-screen chemistry with Matt Smith’s Doctor.



But the BBC came under fire when the character of Amy tried to lure the Doctor into bed in one episode.



Miss Gillan joined the show with Smith when he replaced the previous Doctor, played by David Tennant.



Smith said last night: ‘She’s great. We’ve had the most incredible journey. We took over the show and really had to hold hands and help each other through, it is very disappointing.



Leaving together: Gillan will depart with Arthur Davill who plays her husband Rory Williams

‘That is what the show is about – change and regeneration. But we will see a lot of Amy in the next series.’



Steven Moffat, the show’s executive producer and head writer, said: ‘The final days of the Ponds are coming and it’s during the next series.



‘I’m not telling you when and I’m certainly not telling you how, but that story is going to come to a heart-breaking end.



‘We have only so many adventures with the lovely Amy and the lovely Rory left, so that story next series, during the series, will be over and then the Doctor is going to meet a new friend.



‘I’m not going to tell you anything about he, she or it.’



The announcement about Miss Gillan, who is about to play Sixties model Jean Shrimpton in a BBC4 drama, was made at a screening of the show’s Christmas special.



The event was attended by politicians including Chancellor George Osborne, Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls and ex-Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy.

New faces: Gillan and Smith filming their first episode together, The Eleventh Hour, which introduced him as the eleventh Doctor and her as his companion



