Just for the record, Tennant only booked that run on Hamlet after the BBC/the Doctor Who production

Just for the record, Tennant only booked that run on Hamlet after the BBC/the Doctor Who production team decided not to go ahead with a full fifth series and instead make the specials; he did the plays because there was a lengthy gap in DW's production schedule, not the other way around. I'm fairly sure the same is true with Matt Smith and How to Catch a Monster, especially since the scheduling and filming windows of series 7, the 50th anniversary, and series 8 were likely known long before he signed on for that gig. Again, I don't think that's been confirmed, but I wouldn't blame Smith for the gap, and I definitely wouldn't blame Tennant for the decision to forgo a fifth series.