News Brief : Major Doctor Who news

Doctor Who cast are making the news this week, while Dan Harmon returns to Community. 

.... Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who. After a few years as the eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith is leaving Doctor Who. The news was revealed on the network's Doctor Who blog. Smith's final turns as the famed traveler of space and time will happen in the 50th anniversary special that's scheduled for November and in this year's Christmas special, after which the Doctor will be regenerated by some new lucky chap.

 "Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew, and fans of the show," Smith said in a statement.

.... In other Doctor Who related news, former Doctor's companion Karen Gillian, who played Amy Pond (the girl who waited) for 2 and a half seasons with (also outgoing) present Doctor 'Matt Smith' is joining "Marvel's Guardians of The Galaxy". Details are a bit sketchy about her role in the movie, but it appears she would be the lead female villain in the picture, Lee Pace and Michael Rooker are also said to be villains. The bigger nugget is that Benicio Del Toro has signed on for a multi-picture deal with Marvel, in a lead role for James Gunn’s space opera. Is he Thanos? Is he Rocket Raccoon? Hopefully we’ll soon find out. The cast now includes Benicio Del Toro, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Michael Rooker, Ophelia Lovibond, Lee Pace, and Glenn Close. The film opens August 1st, 2014.
.... Dan Harmon, the creator of Community is back. After creative and production differences between him and the studio last year that made him resign as the show runner, he's back to the show. After the 'up and down' quality of the episodes of season 4, Harmon's return is a welcome return for the show.
... Ben Edlund, Supernatural's most celebrated writer and executive producer, is leaving the CW show to help out his old pal and Supernatural creator Eric Kripke at Revolution. Edlund, who's also written for The Venture Bros., Firefly, Angel, and The Tick, is responsible for some of Supernatural's best and most creative episodes, including "The End," "The French Mistake," and "Wishful Thinking" (the porno-addicted teddy bear? That's Edlund's baby). Supernatural will survive just fine without Edlund, but Revolution should get a huge boost with him as it looks to improve creatively after its dull first season. And it's not just Edlund who will help things out in Season 2. It was previously announced that Farscape and Defiance creator Rockne S. O'Bannon, as well as CSI:NY's Trey Callaway, are also joining Revolution's writing team.
... Revenge will be saying goodbye to Ashley Davenport next season. Actress Ashley Madekwe has not been asked back for Season 3 as her character's story has come to a natural conclusion and none of the writers wanted to awkwardly squeeze her into the show.
... Actress Agnes Bruckner has been cast in the A&E pilot Occult from producer Michael Bay. The series is another one of those "FBI agents taking on supernatural cases" shows, like The X-Files. Bruckner won't play one of the agents; she'll play a woman who gets caught up in some freaky stuff.
... Season 2 of Netflix's House of Cards is adding a pair to its cast. Mad Men's Sam Page and Deadwood's Molly Parker will join the dirty Washington-set political thriller, but details on their roles haven't leaked yet.