Doctor Who Shakeup: The Sixth Doctor Reacts to Matt Smith's Departure

This weekend at the Denver Comic-Con, MTV Geek pinned down Colin Baker, Doctor Who's Sixth Doctor, who shared his feelings on the weekend's big news that Matt Smith has announced his retirement from the franchise effective the end of the year. "I hadn't realized he'd done three years, which one tends to think is about the right length of time. I imagine there's a lot of people clamoring for his services in other stuff and I know that he wants to direct--I've heard that. So I understand," Baker said, adding that fans disappointed in Smith's departure should try to view it as "another stepping stone in the saga of Doctor Who." Baker added that he had a great deal of affection for the current incarnation of the Doctor: "I shall miss him because he's been a very interesting and unusual Doctor, with echoes of the old Doctors like [the second Doctor] Patrick Troughton and [the first Doctor] William Hartnell." The original draft of this article erroneously reported that Baker was returning for the upcoming Doctor Who Fiftieth Anniversary Special, but he is not. We apologize for the error.