Doctor Who - Karen Gillan Talks About Leaving the Show

Were you happy to be a part of the final decision to leave Doctor Who?

Gillan: Oh, yeah! It would be so weird to just receive a script and find out that it was the end. That would be really weird. Oh, my god, I don’t know how I would feel about that. It was nice. I was just thinking about it and I had this instinct of when I wanted to leave, so I called Steven Moffat and we arranged dinner. He told me where he was at, story wise, and together we were like, “Okay, this is when we can do it.” It was actually so lovely and pleasant, and we both felt that it was the right time. In all honesty, I’ve had the best years of my life working on the show, so I’m going to be so sad to go. I really am.

Was it difficult to decide to fully leave, instead of leaving it open for you to come back and make an appearance?

Gillan: If I do something, I want to just do it. I just feel that it’s a stronger impact, and I like to go with my instincts because it’s more exciting.

Was it fun to not know how they were going to write your character out, or would you rather have known ahead of time?

Gillan: I wanted to keep it a surprise, for as long as possible, and keep the excitement in there.

Looking back at your time on the show, what will you remember most fondly about having been a part of it?

Gillan: Well, I’ve made some of my best friends on it. We have so much fun. It’s so life-consuming, but in the most wonderful way. We film pretty much every day, for nine months of the year, so it’s basically your life. And when you’re not filming it, you’re promoting it and talking about it, so it really does take over your life. It’s going to be quite shocking. It will be a strange shock to the system, to not be doing it anymore. But, I’ll remember working with my friends, getting the best writing there is out there in Britain, at the moment, and also just playing such a strong female. That’s one thing I hope I continue to get to do. A lot of stuff is clearly written from a male perspective and the women aren’t quite as fleshed out as the guys. Whereas this character is really well-written. I just hope I get to do more of that.

Full interview at Collider