We have resisted posting too many of the rumors that have been swirling around Doctor Who over the past couple of months, but this one has a little bit more weight, as it’s based on an actual video of Matt Smith talking, and what he says has a LOT of people talking.

Here’s the way Bleeding Cool has presented it:

We knew that Matt Smith was signed on for 14 more episodes of Doctor Who, starting late next year and rolling on into 2013, but we didn’t know how long he’d be hanging on after that. Indeed, there’s still room for argument, but in a new interview with VH1 Smith seems to have put a pretty clear expiry date on his tenure in the TARDIS.

Here’s the salient bit in which he discusses his desire to try out for some roles in the US:

“I’ve got another year of Doctor Who, but then I’m certainly going to come and give it a shot, come and hang out in LA.”

So, does this mean he’ll be bowing out before the special anniversary events we’ve been promised for 2013? Smith will be counting this year as a production time, not broadcast time so, depending on when they get rolling, they could easily get the 14-part series in the can plus some specials for the anniversary.

It wouldn’t seem entirely daft for the big anniversary story to be hung on a regeneration hook, new beginnings and all.

Precedent suggests that an official BBC announcement will come along at some point before too long. It never seems to hard to push them into tipping their cards.

Watch the video and see if you agree:

Well if it’s true, at least we have a lot of warning. We will absolutely keep you posted.

Doctor Who is expected to return with the new Christmas Special this December and with season seven in the fall of 2012 on BBC America.