Get Ready for All of The Feels, 'Doctor Who' Fans

We all knew it was coming, Whovians, but Wednesday will finally be "The Time of The Doctor" for Doctor Who. By this we mean the farewell to Eleven himself, Matt Smith, in his regeneration into Peter Capaldi, the latest man to tackle the Timelord. And according to current companion Clara Oswald (known as Jenna Coleman in the real world), we're in for a "sad and beautiful" farewell during this year's Christmas Special, airing on BBC America in the states. Which is all well and good, but, oh god the feels, they're coming! And in the words of the tenth Doctor upon regenerating: I don't want to go!

But we have to go, friends: we have to move forward. Ever-chugging ahead to our brave, new, Capaldi-driven world. And the new Doctor has made an impression on his companion Clara, it seems. "It feels like something very different," explained Coleman, who's been in rehearsals with Capaldi for a week. "It's kind of taken in a whole 'nother direction and Peter's Doctor is very, very different."

Before the healing comes the hurt, though (and no, we don't mean John Hurt but funny you should make such a clever joke!), and even the staunchest among us are likely to crumble over Smith's final moments.

"It's wonderful. It's one of his best performances, I think, that I've ever seen," explained Coleman. And that's all well and good, but — are we going to cry? Should we break out our copies of the 1991 chart-topper, "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" for this?

"Oh, it was so hard," Coleman quipped — as if she had read our minds. "Goodbyes are always sad and they're never, ever easy. That day, where we have these words to say — these wonderful beautiful words that Steven [Moffat, the series' showrunner] has written. We were just trying to avoid them for as long as possible and not wanting to look at the scene because it's so beautiful and sad."

So let us get this straight: the scene made even these very professional British actorpeople sad and emotional? Then how, pray tell, will the bloody over-obsessive fans react? Are you trying to send people to the hospital from the sads, Moffat? Do you just enjoy raking people's hearts over the coals? Like when you didn't reunite Rose and Ten during the 50th anniversary? Or when Eleven had to say goodbye to River Song? Or the bloody Ponds?!

This is emotional torture-porn, Moff. Tell us there's something redeeming about all of this: some sort of pay-off, some loose ends tied — something! "Steven's very clever, there's lots of things that tie up very cleverly that maybe been years ago and come back into play now," said Coleman, easing our minds. "It's a wonderful arc, in a way. But It's very much a tribute to the eleventh Doctor and everything that's made him so funny and wonderful and sad and heartwarming. It's kind of a big celebration."

Which is nice, and hopeful, and true-to-Who fashion. But still: Matt Smith! Gone forever! Bah humbag to this Christmas.

Image: BBC