There are still a lot of question marks around Matt Smith's continued involvement in "Doctor Who" after the next season. But one thing is for sure now: fans will have to say good-bye to Amy Pond and Rory the Roman.

Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill will depart after the upcoming seventh season of "Doctor Who," which begins in the Fall. Steven Moffat, the showrunner who has led the series during all of Gillan's and Darvill's involvement, told media during a screening of the Christmas special Thursday, that he is looking for someone new to accompany The Doctor.

"The final days of the Ponds are coming during the next" season, Moffat said, according to Digital Spy. "I'm not telling you when or how, but that story is going to come to a heartbreaking end. Then The Doctor will meet a new friend."

Amy and Rory have come and gone from the 11th Doctor's life in the past two seasons, although the actors themselves have never been too far behind. While the first season starring Smith featured mostly Gillan, her fiance (and later husband) joined full-time in the series sixth season.

Amy is popular with fans because of her no-nonsense attitude, even with The Doctor, who tends to be able to charm his way out of many situations, but none that involve Amy. Rory is her more submissive husband who has more than once shown his devoted love to Amy, even guarding her Pandorica for 2,000 years as a plastic Roman.

Moffat did hint that Alex Kingston would return for more adventures of "Doctor Who," but it was not clear if she would be involved in the departure of her parents. It also seemed that with the word that he is casting a new companion that Kingston wouldn't be joining the series full-time as a replacement companion.

"The show will miss the Ponds, brilliantly played by Karen and Arthur," Moffat said. "But the great thing about 'Doctor Who' is its ability to change."

Gillan, who turned 24 last month, actually made her "Doctor Who" debut during the David Tennant years. She played the Soothsayer in the 2008 episode "Fires of Pompeii," which helped kick off the fourth season of the show with Catherine Tate playing Donna Noble, The Doctor's companion. Gillan would appear in a dozen episodes of "The Kevin Bishop Show" as well as a pair of episodes of the British series "The Well" before landing on "Doctor Who" full-time.

Darvill made a splash with British audiences in 2008 in the miniseries "Little Dorrit." He also appeared in "Pelican Blood" and the film "Robin Hood" as Groom.

"Doctor Who" airs its Christmas special on BBC One and BBC America on Christmas Day, and returns for its seventh season in the fall.

Smith appears to be continuing even beyond next season, that is if you want to read that into Moffat's words. However, what does this all mean for "Doctor Who"? Alpha Waves Radio will air a special episode focused on the fate of "Doctor Who" on Dec. 22. The show will be available on Podbean, or at Apple's iTunes store in the podcast section.