Arthur Darvill Wants Older 12th Doctor

Arthur Darvill is the latest to speak about his former co-star’s departure from Doctor Who.

Echoing comments from Alex Kingston earlier in the week, Darvill told BBCA he wasn’t surprised by Smith’s exit: “I’ve known that Matt’s going to leave for awhile, so it wasn’t much of a shock to me, and I saw him last week or the week before.”

“He’s done his time on it, I think. It’s a hard one. You know, I left a year ago, and it was very hard to leave. I think the worst that you can do on something like that is outstay your welcome. It’s better to be missed than for people to go, ‘Just get out,’ so I think it’s a good time for him to leave.”

On who Darvill would like to see as 12th Doctor, he said: “I think they should go for someone older and I don’t know who that should be.”

“I suppose it could be a woman. I don’t know. I think it is a male part, though I think it’s just about the person.”

On the Dame Helen Mirren rumours: “I’d love to see Dame Helen do it — best of luck to whoever gets it, though.”