Doctor Who supremo Steven Moffat said there was "no ceremony" when Matt Smith handed over the lead role to his replacement Peter Capaldi.
Viewers will see Smith's stint as the Timelord end on Christmas Day when Capaldi takes over the controls of the Tardis.
Moffat said: "There's no ceremony about these things. Once they got to the end of Matt's bit Peter came on and Matt had to give him his watch, his time machine and his girl and go. They had a big hug and all that."
He admitted the last day filming with Smith had been "emotional".
He said: "It's emotional because it's a friend leaving the show and we'll miss him terribly. It's the end of an era."
Moffat said Smith's stint had been "brilliant and elegant" and "heartfelt".
But he refused to be drawn on what he expects from Capaldi, saying: "We've only just begun and we had the read through yesterday and he was amazing but it's incredibly early".
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