Karen Gillan to make 'heartbreaking' exit from Doctor Who

 TV favourite Karen Gillan - famed for her role as mini-skirted sidekick Amy Pond - is to leave Doctor Who during the next series of the hit show.

The actress, 24, will be written out in a "heartbreaking" storyline, programme boss Steven Moffatt said.

A new companion for The Doctor is being lined up, but producers said they would give no clues about their identity.

Gillan and her screen husband Arthur Darvill - who plays Rory - will both be written out.

The Scottish actress, who will soon be seen in a BBC drama as model Jean Shrimpton, has had a starring role for two series and has become hugely popular.

Moffatt said: "The final days of the Ponds are coming. It's during the next series. I'm not telling you when and I'm not telling you how."

He added: "That story is going to be a heartbreaking one."

Moffatt said The Doctor would be "taking a new friend".

"I'm not going to tell you anything about he, she or it."

Matt Smith said he would miss his co-star, who joined the programme at the same time as himself.

"We took over the show and we really had to hold hands and help each other through it. It's very disappointing." But he added: "This show is about change and regeneration."

In June last year, Gillan hit back at criticism over Amy's sexy demeanour - saying feminism was not the issue any more.

The flame-haired Scot claimed her character's mini-skirts are typical of what young women like to wear.

The series came under fire from some viewers for a scene in which Amy tried to seduce the Doctor, but Gillan said they were unlikely to get together romantically as he sees Amy more like an annoying younger sister.

It is understood the decision for Gillan to leave the show was mutual.

Jackson doctor considers testifying

 Dr Conrad Murray said he needed more time to decide whether he would testify in his trial over the d

The doctor charged over Michael Jackson's death has told a judge he has not yet decided whether he will testify in his own defence.

The doctor charged over Michael Jackson's death has told a judge he has not yet decided whether he will testify in his own defence.

Dr Conrad Murray, when asked whether he understood his options to testify or remain silent, told Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor he would let the judge know his decision today. "I will still need more time to talk to my counsel about it," he said.

His comments outside the jury's presence came with his trial nearing completion and at the end of a day when he heard his own expert witness say that he would not have accepted payment to do what Murray did for Michael Jackson - administering a hospital anaesthetic in the star's bedroom.

"I wouldn't even consider it," Dr Paul White said. "It's something no amount of money could convince me to take on."

The use of the drug propofol to treat Jackson's insomnia was "a complete off-label use of the drug", he said. Dr White also acknowledged that the drug should never be given outside a medical facility because of the need for proper lifesaving equipment.

Dr White, a highly regarded and now-retired anaesthesiologist, is sometimes referred to as "the father of propofol" for his early research on the drug.

But in court he drew criticism from the prosecutor and censure from the judge who threatened to fine him 1,000 US dollars (?623) for contempt of court.

Dr White came under a bruising cross-examination by prosecutor David Walgren, who attacked the expert's recent claim that Jackson caused his own death.

Mr Walgren questioned Dr White's scientific calculations and noted he once led the defence to think Jackson drank an extra dose of propofol. Dr White acknowledged he had done no research on that theory when he posed it. A study later showed the theory to be unsupportable, he said.

While stopping short of blaming Murray for the singer's death, Dr White blurted out during cross-examination that he believed Murray had loaded a syringe with the drug propofol and left it where Jackson could have gained access to it. That scenario had not been offered before and it could explain how a groggy Jackson could have awakened from sedation, grabbed the syringe and injected the drug into his IV line.