Moderator's Note: This is Mike's original Smith summary:

Matt Smith will be the 11th Doctor, starting sometime in 2010. He's very young (only 26) and hasn't much of a resume outside of theatre, so he's a bit of an enigma right now.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7807996.stm


The youngest ever. (Well he's still over 900 years old).

...and unlike SOME people on this board I won't write him off until he's actually DONE SOMETHING in the role.... sheesh some people are harsh.....

So is this the thread where we bash the new guy before he does anything? ;-)

Seriously though, I hope he has a different haircut for the part because watching his interview I found myself looking more at the long hair over part of his face instead of his eyes. Just too distracting.

I wasn't bashing him, just stating a fact. He is only 26. I do think he has great potential, and seems enthusiastic about doing the role.

I was thinking he reminded me of someone, then it hit me......a young Mick Jagger.

I was poking fun at Rodney's comment about writing him off until he's done something.

Sorry for the confusion.

a young Mick Jagger
*snicker* That creates an interesting mental image.
Doctor: Hey! You! Get off my cloud! (pony kicks the alien away)

I was thinking he reminded me of someone, then it hit me......a young Mick Jagger.

Actually, Kevin Bacon with big, messy hair comes to mind for me. Smith has a prominent chin, but seems to be lacking in the eyebrow department.
I think I could have accepted this guy a little easier if he was 10 years older with some lines on his face. Right now, he just seems too young. I keep seeing a guy that should be part of a boy band. I wasn't going to rag on the guy yet, but after that interview, he looks way too young, just a baby, and I just don't think he's the right person for such a role.
It brings to mind those amateur Doctor Who films on Youtube by fans that are just kids, barely old enough to shave.

Oh, brother.
This 'Kid' is going to have to convince me Big Time that he's worthy of the role, let alone a one-off Companion.
If you go to Gallifreyone.com, go to the News Page, and scroll down to January 14 you see a photo of this...boy.
My God, he looks waaaaaaaaaaaay too young! He looks like he's about 20 to 23 in that photo (he might, if it was a stock photo), but this is going to be ridiculous watching him play a 900-year old Time Lord alongside a Companion that looks his/her age, which will probably be older than him in real life. If Sarah Jane pops up, she'll look so much like his mother it won't be funny.
I thought Davison and Tennant were too young when I first saw them, but they grew on me, but this Kid just looks so wrong for the part.
I hate going into a series where the actors have to prove themselves to me, because it interferes with my enjoyment.
Can't figure out why he won the role with those boyish, and I stress BOYISH looks.

I know, I knoooooooooooooooooooow.

But our new God has spoken, and if He says this little kiddie was the best possible choice for playing a 900-year-old, then we must bow to His superior wisdom (notwithstanding the various rumours that it was offered to at least two other maturer and, um, darker candidates first).

Bear in mind that RTG got over our reluctance to accept anyone in Eccy's place by keeping our new Doctor asleep for 40 minutes, thus ensuring that one was foaming at the mouth for ANY Doctor by the time he was 'Did you miss me?'-ing. (Of course, this tactic may take a little longer to work for Smith. But then no-one can say Moffat can't do a great Doctor-lite story...I'm voting for a season of Sally Sparrow. Smith can turn up at the end of the grand finale. If he shaves his head. And wears a lot of that Last of the Time Lords' ageing make-up.)

My God, he looks waaaaaaaaaaaay too young! He looks like he's about 20 to 23 in that photo (he might, if it was a stock photo)

He is 23/24.

"I'm voting for a season of Sally Sparrow." - Emily

Egads... that might actually manage to TOP a season of Tennant and Tate! :-D

...Well, okay... equal, at least. ;-)

Having just seen him in Moses Jones and Party Animals, I'm gradually beginning to mellow towards the Be-Hair-ed Abomination...er, our soon-to-be-beloved Next Doctor. He has...something. Not sure what it IS, yet (aside from the Hair being under better control than in all Who-related pictures, though obviously I'm still campaigning for it to be ALL CUT OFF (if we can't have a woman Doctor or a black Doctor it's about time we have a bald Doctor)) but for the first time I find myself thinking about 2010 without automatically wanting to kill myself. (Still want to kill Tennant though. Obviously.)

Hmmmm....I'm thinking words like "ghastly" and "horrible" are going to be uttered by certain posters once they see the new pic of our new Doctor in COSTUME!!!

I don't know. Just from the pictures he seems to have the youth of Davison and the slightly quirky costume of McCoy.

Wait... Matt Smith will be the 12th Doctor? Man, #11 is gonna be even shorter-lived than Eccleston... it'll practically be like Curse of the Fatal Death! :-)

My bad; I'll fix the note.

Hmmmm....I'm thinking words like "ghastly" and "horrible" are going to be uttered by certain posters once they see the new pic of our new Doctor in COSTUME!!!

Well, they certainly WOULD be if I was coherent enough....at the moment I'm still at the 'Oh god oh god oh GOD that BOW TIE' stage.

Still...at least the godawful costume distracts attention from the godawful Hair.

(I love him really, you know that. At least, I will. It's a strange feeling, recoiling in horror whilst KNOWING that this man is going to mean EVERYTHING to me.)

"It says adventure. It says laid back cool. It says Time Lord chic and we're loving it!"

No, it doesn't.

....at the moment I'm still at the 'Oh god oh god oh GOD that BOW TIE' stage.



Didn't Trougton wear a bow tie?

It's...um, interesting.

I love this article on the Doctor's dress sense over the years: http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6536

Doesn't seem that bad to me, especially when compared to cricketing, the regurgitated rainbow, and the endless question mark. Don't much care for the rolled-up trousers though; hopefully that's a one-episode thing.

As much as I'm still laughing at the term "Bow Tie Boy" I have a sneaking suspicion this is a one-off costume. It wouldn't be unprecedented for the production team to throw us off the scent....

The jacket is rather boring. I like longer frock coats on the Doctor.
Since Tennant had a blue and a brown phase, and McCoy had a cream and then a brown jacket, this bland jacket might be tossed in favour of something better in his second series.

I love this article on the Doctor's dress sense over the years: http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/6536

Interesting, though I wouldn't put Matt Smith as worse than Colin Baker.

Also kind of funny to have a top 10 list when you have 11 Doctors. Poor Troughton....

Didn't Trougton wear a bow tie?

Oh.

Yes.

And so did Pertwee.

And so, come to think of it, did Tennant.

Alright, maybe it's not the bow tie per se - it's THAT bow tie. Combined with...everything else.

---
Also kind of funny to have a top 10 list when you have 11 Doctors. Poor Troughton....
---
I guess he's 6th, although he probably doesn't feature that much because most of his stories are long since destroyed.

And I'd have swapped McCoy with Pertwee, there's a certain elegance to his clothing, wheras McCoy seemed to have been given whatever the costume designer found at the back of the closest in the nearest charity shop, with a few question marks thrown over it.

Anyway, back to Mr Smith. You know what I think the costume looks like?

Something worn by a Cambridge University student (the kind of person who was passing A-Level maths at age 5, spent their entire student life in halls and has had no life outside of studying), who's just been awarded his doctorate and immediately offered a teaching position on the Maths faculty's staff, whilst he continues his research into disproving Pythagoras or calculating the last decimal place of pi.

Oh, how quickly you forget:

Chris: Have you seen the brown costume for the 10th Doctor? My goodness... sort of thing you expect from an accountant. Wonder if he'll go out and paint the town beige?

Emily: Bloody hell. I...I'm just not sure about a pin-striped suit for the DOCTOR.

Everyone will adjust and no doubt love the bow tie before summer.

You know what I think the costume looks like?

Something worn by a Cambridge University student (the kind of person who was passing A-Level maths at age 5, spent their entire student life in halls and has had no life outside of studying), who's just been awarded his doctorate and immediately offered a teaching position on the Maths faculty's staff

Maybe they should have gone the whole hog and stuck Smith in a mortar-board?

Well, it worked beautifully for Tennant in Human Nature.

And at least it would have covered most of Matt's Hair...

Emily: Bloody hell. I...I'm just not sure about a pin-striped suit for the DOCTOR.

Everyone will adjust and no doubt love the bow tie before summer.

I'd bloody well BETTER adjust and love the bow tie before summer.

OF course that still gives me a year's-worth of moaning about it.

Anyway, I was quite right to be dubious. Alright, so the brown pin-stripes worked perfectly, but that was cos they happened to have David Tennant inside them. They're not gonna stand up on their own as the iconic embodiment of Doctorishness, unlike a certain Scarf I could mention...

---
Chris: Have you seen the brown costume for the 10th Doctor? My goodness... sort of thing you expect from an accountant. Wonder if he'll go out and paint the town beige?
---
At least he'd be going out and having (what to him is) fun. ;)

Emily, I think your last statement hits the whole subject on the head. It doesn't matter what the costume is, but who is in the costume. I dare say Tom Baker in Colin Baker's costume would still have been an awesome Doctor, but the reverse would not have been so wonderful.

And let's not forget the script writing. When you've got Robert Holmes or Russell T. Davies writing a script, it's going to be a good show. But not even Sir Laurence Olivier could have suceeded with a Pip and Jane Baker atrocity.

It doesn't matter what the costume is, but who is in the costume. I dare say Tom Baker in Colin Baker's costume would still have been an awesome Doctor

Bloody hell, what a thought. Has anyone ever photo-thingied such an abomination?

Ouch. Why would you say something like that out loud? Ideas can be terrible things.

Photo-thingied? Spare me your technical mumbo jumbo, Poindexter. ;-)

Ouch. Why would you say something like that out loud? Ideas can be terrible things.

Sorry, sorry!

I've just had this THING in my head since Mike (Yes! MIKE! It's all HIS fault!) mentioned it, and I suppose I just wanted to spread the misery around...

Spare me your technical mumbo jumbo, Poindexter.

Poindexter...??

Poindexter is an American term for someone who is "overly enthusiastic" about academically challenging subjects.

I believe that usage of the term derives from the old "Felix the Cat" cartoons.

Yeah, sorry, should have said Anorak.

This is supposedly some (poor quality) audio from Matt Smith as the Doctor:



http://www.flickr.com/photos/alun_vega/3865648374/

Oh god. That's AWFUL. I could do a more convincing 'I am the Doctor.'

I thought it was ok.

Remember it was made from someone else on non-professional equipment from a good distance away, so the sound quality is not good. Plus that might have just been the first take. It may not even make it into the show.

*Pauses in throwing the noose over the crossbeam*

Good points. I'll try to bear them in mind...

wow....the universe may just explode here but....I'm with Emily on this one.....however I see the point that it probably won't be the same audio as in the final product....still I wish people would wait before giving up on bowtie boy and ranga girl until....I dunno....they've actually AIRED THE EPISODES!!!!

But it's going to be a long time before they actually AIR THE EPISODES.

We have to do something in the meantime!

And the only option is to moan about him and complain????

We're English!! (Well, some of us here are) It's what we do! ;-)

If you didn't like the Matt Smith sound bite, you're going to really hate this one:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/alun_vega/3866796103/in/set-72157622117208010/

And the only option is to moan about him and complain????

I suppose we could watch Other Shows...

I'm willing to wait and see. For me, he's like all the other actors (bar one) I haven't heard of who've stepped up to play the Doctor.

bowtie boy and ranga girl

Ranga Girl?

And the only option is to moan about him and complain????

Well, if he'd just give us a GOOD line to listen to we could be prostrating ourselves at his feet sobbing with joy instead...god, how well I remember the first time I heard Eccy's 'What's your name by the way...nice to meet you Rose, run for your life!' online...I couldn't even make out what he was saying and STILL it had the above effect on me...

If you didn't like the Matt Smith sound bite, you're going to really hate this one:

Actually I loved that! Unlike the 'Doctor's' voice, you could really see it working after a bit of, well, work...and it's a great idea to rip off Evil of the Daleks! It's not like we're ever gonna SEE it...

I suppose we could watch Other Shows...

Ha ha ha ha ha! No, seriously...

Power! I meant POWER of the Daleks, not Evil.

"I suppose we could watch Other Shows..."
Ha ha ha ha ha! No, seriously...

Look at it this way. Other shows show what's happening where the Doctor isn't - not all of them obviously, but most of them. If the Doctor ever went to Yorkshire, he might land right in the middle of 'Last of the Summer Wine'. As a true Fan, therefore, it is your duty to watch these lesser shows, so you'll be mentally prepared if the Doctor should honour them with a visit.

Besides, some of these other shows have cats in. Surely it's worth sitting through a Bond film, just to glimpse the villain's adorable cat, even if the Doctor doesn't deign to turn up. Yes, I know you have your own cats, but you can't look at them whenever you like - being cats, they are entitled to spend a week hiding under the bushes whenever the whim takes them.

Fortunately, Sarah Jane will be back soon, giving us another chance to see Ten, and afterwards we can start the count down to Eleven, mournfully ticking off the days.

First Flickr; sounds like some young guy pretending to be the Doctor in a high school play.

Second Flickr; episode title 'Tea Of The Daleks'!!!

Speaking of the universe coming to an end, I'm going to make an earth-shattering statement:

Rodney is right.

I can't believe you're all freaking out after hearing ONE, single, badly recorded (and unverified) line reading from Matt Smith. Even if this is Smith, there's no guarantee that this is a final take. And even if it is a final take, so what? Even I wouldn't be presumptious enough to judge an actor or an episode from a single line. Get a grip, people!

Eh. I've got better things to do than 'freak out' over a line of dialog on the computer, dude. Seriously.
I can't speak for anyone else, but for me the line sounds amateurish, and just too young (to go with the too young face), so I'm not going to be able to take Smith too seriously in the role, judging ONLY from what I've seen and now heard, so far.
and that's a shame because he has to prove himself in the role, unlike a certain actor who played 'The Doctor' in 'The Next Doctor', whom I personally prefer a hundred times more over Smith (costume, voice, looks).
We're here to vent, Mike, whether positive or negative, because who else will listen? Our non-Who friends and family? Not likely. I actually WANT to know what you and Emily, and Rodney, and Callie and all the others think, positive or negative.
But am I freaking out? Naw.
Just lacking confidence, for now.

If you got all that out of one line, you've got better hearing than I do. And I'm not opposed to venting, just venting without cause. Next we'll be complaining about the quality of the tea served to the production crew, and how it will impact season 5.

Well, tea did save the new Tenth Doctor's life :-)
(And my voice was deeper when I was 19 than Smith's is now. His doesn't sound too commanding, like Tom Baker's was (my choice of best Doctor voice of the 11 guys).

I haven't had time to read all the comments here, but I would just like to complain about reports I've read about the quality of the tea served to the production crew. Matt Smith's voice is the least of our problems: Season 5 will be ruined as a result of the poor quality of beverages ...

;0)

(sound of gun blowing out my brains)

Amazing how easily shocked some people are. In one minor fandom, once they found out their hero donated blood, they started scheming how they could get some of that blood into their own veins, as a way of getting closer to him, and even they stayed within the law, which not all fans do.

Worrying about the tea the cast are served is nothing, nothing at all.

"Worrying about the tea the cast are served is nothing, nothing at all."

Agreed, 100 %!!!!

It's the quality of the chips served!

And it's not even as if krillitane oil is all that expensive!

What's this I hear about BBC refusing to feed the crew?

Other shows show what's happening where the Doctor isn't - not all of them obviously, but most of them.

*Adopts patient, condescending, John-Smith-talking-to-the-black-skivy-in-Human-Nature tones of voice*

Ah, cultural differences! We - call - those - stories. They didn't really happen. It is therefore HIGHLY unlikely - bar another (gods forbid) trip to the Land of Fiction - that the Doctor will be gracing any of these lesser programmes any time soon.

(And remember: Dimensions in Time was just a nightmare. First Frontier says so, so it must be true.)

Besides, some of these other shows have cats in.

I bet they haven't got an entire basketful of kittens. With ribbons round their little necks. Squeaking 'Mama!'. And being picked up by David Tennant.

I can't believe you're all freaking out after hearing ONE, single, badly recorded (and unverified) line reading from Matt Smith.

I can't believe we're not freaking out MORE! I mean, so far you and me are the ONLY ones threatening suicide!

His doesn't sound too commanding, like Tom Baker's was (my choice of best Doctor voice of the 11 guys).

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I may have betrayed Tom for TWO other Doctors, but at least I haven't betrayed his voice. It's the BEST.

And it's not even as if krillitane oil is all that expensive!

It probably IS now the tin dog's blown up the supply...

The Tardis can go anywhere it likes. If it wants to drop the Doctor in the middle of Eastenders, it will - though obviously it'd only do that if the Doctor had upset its feelings, or the Master had tricked it.

Besides, in an infinite universe, everything that's not actually impossible happens somewhere, and infinitely often too. There are also authors, like HG Wells and Shakespeare, who are inspired by their encounters with the Doctor. If he should ever visit H.P. Lovecraft, I'll be prepared for batrachian abominations fighting with cats on the moon - will you?

And talking of cats, baskets of kittens are unfortunately rare - but one cat for 90 minutes is as good as 6 for half a minute.

And talking of cats, baskets of kittens are unfortunately rare - but one cat for 90 minutes is as good as 6 for half a minute.

Obviously Robert the "un" was added by accident when talking about baskets of kittens.

And the only way that equation works is if you're using the cats for soccer practice...or target practice

The Tardis can go anywhere it likes. If it wants to drop the Doctor in the middle of Eastenders, it will - though obviously it'd only do that if the Doctor had upset its feelings

The Doc's always hitting her with a hammer! And even THAT hasn't upset her enough to dump him in Eastenders!

or the Master had tricked it.

Oh, that slut of a TARDIS ADORES the Master. Just compare her behaviour in Utopia towards the Master, as compared with her behaviour towards poor Captain Jack...

Besides, in an infinite universe, everything that's not actually impossible happens somewhere, and infinitely often too.

Since when has the universe been infinite?

There are also authors, like HG Wells and Shakespeare, who are inspired by their encounters with the Doctor. If he should ever visit H.P. Lovecraft, I'll be prepared for batrachian abominations fighting with cats on the moon - will you?

As long as no oochies are harmed in the process...

And the only way that equation works is if you're using the cats for soccer practice...or target practice

Rodney, Rodney, Rodney. Aren't you forgetting something? YOU - ARE - A - CAT - LOVER. You confessed your feelings for ickle fluffy Toshikins on this very site, there's no point in PRETENDING now. It's about as convincing as Rattigan's accent.

No I'm not a cat lover. Tosh was cute for a short while then she got annoying. Like most things feline related she started off as friendly and then quickly became EVIL!

The Doc's always hitting her with a hammer!

The Tardis can shrug off a supernova, when she's in a good mood. A hammer wouldn't even tickle her. No, I'm thinking more about making her jealous. There is another possibility hough. If the Doctor is temporarily mentally unbalanced, perhaps because of regeneration, that could affect the Tardis.

Since when has the universe been infinite?

Since the Big Bang, if it is. No one's really sure yet.

As long as no oochies are harmed in the process...

The cats would be safe. Anyone who threatened them would be killed by a few hundred angry cats, and the flesh stripped from their bones leaving only a skull behind - which is no more than is deserved. That's the kind of thing you can expect from a Lovecraft episode, if he turns out to have been inspired by a meeting with the Doctor, along with elder evils from the dawn of time.

Since when has the universe been infinite?

Since the Big Bang, if it is. No one's really sure yet.

According to previous episodes it has a center and an edge, all of which sounds finite to me. Although it apparently also has a big bang and ends in a whimper, so it's hard to say.

There's more than one way to define universe, and nothing to stop the Doctor using different definitions at different times, to suit the circumstances.

If the universe, meaning spatially connected domain, is infinite, the universe as we know it would still only be finite, though very large. Outside a bubble several billion trillion trillion light years wide, the laws of physics would be different, in random ways. Nothing in our bubble would be able to leave it through normal means - making it a universe, in one sense of the word, with a centre and edge - but there would be an infinite number of bubbles that size, including an infinite number with our laws of physics, and an infinite number of duplicate earths.

For that matter, a bubble several billion trillion trillion light years across is big enough that it probably contains a few near-duplicate earths anyway, each a good enough copy to fool most humans.

Tosh was cute for a short while then she got annoying. Like most things feline related she started off as friendly and then quickly became EVIL!

Ah, bless! Did ickle cutie try to scratch your face off? GO TOSH!

No, I'm thinking more about making her jealous.

The TARDIS doesn't seem to do jealousy, inexplicably. She even brought that shameless hussy Grace BACK TO LIFE for no readily apparent reason! AND she didn't seem to mind when she and Donna were burning up and the Doctor made it VERY CLEAR INDEED that all he cared about was getting Donna out of there.

There's more than one way to define universe, and nothing to stop the Doctor using different definitions at different times, to suit the circumstances.

I don't think he does, though - all those other bubbles of yours are referred to as alternate/parallel/N-Spacy universes.

It's going to be OK.

It's going to be OK, everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

Sure, Matt Smith at the end of End of Time was bloody awful*, but just see the clips from Season 5/31 and WEEP with relief. Cos...he is recognisably the Doctor despite the fact he spends his entire time punching people and firing guns.

*Bear in mind I HAD just lost the Love Of My Life. But all the same...kissing your own legs is NOT in the same class as 'New teeth - that's weird.' Mind you, he DID feel his hair and think he'd regenerated into a 'girl', which *folds arms with insufferably smug expression* should solve THAT particular argument, thank you very much.

Consideingr how short that clip was, how some of the scenes don't even show Matt Smith, how the last third-or-so is just logos and stuff, it's amazing that he could convey--maybe even exude--Doctorness.

You're right. The future is in good hands.

Agreed. As Kevin said, despite the fact that he's not even in the clip all that much, he doesn't look too bad, does he?

Maybe we'll be able to cope with a twelve-year-old Doctor after all. ;-)

The Guardian has a rather nice interview with Himself on:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/mar/06/matt-smith-doctor-who-interview

He's a cat-lover. This is a very promising sign.

And he likes Mini Eggs. Even better.

PAH. We allowed ourselves to be lulled into a false sense of security by all the cat-, chocolate- and Who-loving. What we SHOULD have been doing was recoiling in horror from all that FOOTBALL. Because - may the gods have mercy on our souls - SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5/31 - The Eleventh Doctor plays a game of football. Oh god, it's a nightmare, what have I done to deserve this, did they learn NOTHING from Black Orchid...?

To be fair, at least this actor has actually played football. Not sure what background Davison has in cricket.

I am SO not in the mood to be fair...Three-and-a-half weeks is just a really bad place to be in. Close enough that I'm utterly terrified, not quite close enough that I'm leaping out of bed every morning with a joyous shriek of 'Who in X number of days!!!!!!!'

Plus I'm SERIOUSLY pissed off that Who will be touring the country showing The Eleventh Hour early...to kids. It's pure age discimination.

Am i detecting a thawing out in despair from our moderator on BTB? From comments posted here and elsewhere I'm definitely sensing a shift...

Thaw? I'd say she did a complete turnaround by the end of End of Time part 2. It's only you who keeps insisting she harbours any negativity towards him. (Now towards the bowtie itself, that's another matter...)

You are too kind - I was still having BIG problems with Bow Tie Boy - er, I mean, the new Love Of My Life - post-End of Time, as I didn't exactly take to all that leg-kissing, not to mention that godawful 'I am the Doctor and you are the Daaaaaaaaaaaaleks' quote that sounded as if he was about SIX.

Everything SINCE then, however...give or take the football and of course the bow tie...is looking pretty ******* fantastic...

No Kevin, I'm saying she's NOT. It's a good thing. I mean I knew initially people (not just Emily) would be reluctant unless it was either a) David Tennant's long lost twin brother Dennis or b) Tom Baker coming back with his new sonic walking frame.
I just called for calm and suggested we wait until we see a little bit more of him in action. Don't worry, if he turns out to be rubbish then I'll happily join Emily's lynching mob...

not to mention that godawful 'I am the Doctor and you are the Daaaaaaaaaaaaleks' quote that sounded as if he was about SIX.
Oh come ON! As Mike pointed out, there's no proof it is Smith, and even then it's a poorly recorded line of dialogue that may or may not have even been the final take (chances are the actual line will be dubbed into the final mix) so let's not write him off based on THAT. Sheesh...

Oh come ON! As Mike pointed out, there's no proof it is Smith, and even then it's a poorly recorded line of dialogue that may or may not have even been the final take (chances are the actual line will be dubbed into the final mix) so let's not write him off based on THAT. Sheesh...

Well, obviously I'm not writing him off NOW. I'm confidently expecting to fall madly in love with him in eleven days' time. But THEN...what did we have to go on? His stupid leg-kissing performance in End of Time. His ghastly Hair and Bow Tie. The aforementioned godawful line. You can hardly blame me for a few fits of screaming hysteria, though even then I clung to the belief that OF COURSE our New Moffaty Living God knew WAY better than me (even if I HAD wiped the floor with Him during our Fireplace argument).

I just came across this brief little interview with Matt. I think he sums up the Doctor pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3fH93LhRQ4&feature=related

Um, that was rather lovely. (Though when he says the Doc's the cleverest man in the universe - what about women? Romana was his intellectual superior, for starters.)

Anyway, Matt's making a pretty perfect Doctor so far. Due no doubt to his innate madness, he just seems a natural at it, like Tom. No acting required. (Not, of course, that there's anything wrong with having someone act the Doctor, like *sob* my lost lamented Eccy n'Tennant.)

Though - ha ha! - people who thought we'd finally got ourselves a cheerier bloke after all that Last of the Time Lords Lonely God stuff must have been seriously disappointed by Beast Below. He can do angst. He can do EVERYTHING. He - IS - The - Doctor! NEVER ONCE, while watching an episode, has his appalling youth OR his godawful bow tie crossed my mind...

And if you don't like the bow tie, you'll really not like this:


http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=31146430&l=cda2ef706d&id=1388840569

That's just EVIL.

Ya know, I think he pulls it off better than Sylvester did.

Actually, he's the only Doctor who doesn't look completely out of place in his predecesor's costume.

LOL! Actually it kinda suits him! I'd like to see all of the Doctors in that get-up just for the heck of it!

He hasn't got a catchphrase!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How come he hasn't got a catchphrase?????????????

GERONIMO!!!

Ah.

Yeah, forgot all about that. I mean, I spent MONTHS dreading that that WAS the catchphrase, but now, having appeared a mere TWICE in five episodes, it kinda slipped my mind. I'm used to the Doc using his catchphrase (or at least ONE of 'em, in Tennant's case, him having a slight overabundance) in EVERY episode. Though Tom was certainly more sparing with the jelly-babies, and Troughton with his giddy aunts.

Let's compromise...if he uses it TWICE more by the time we're topping ourselves cos Season 5/31 is over...it's a catchphrase.

Gotta nitpick. That would be twice in six stories since it was first uttered in End of Time II. The Eleventh Hour was just a recap, so it's only been uttered once this series.

Once in "The Eleventh Hour"(when he jumps back into the TARDIS) and once in "The Beast Below" when he and Amy are ejected from the space whale.

Oh! Of course! So that's THREE times in six stories...

Alright, so it's PRACTICALLY a catchphrase. *Sigh* well, at least it isn't French...

SFX Magazine, in association with BBC Books, have launched a competition looking for a new description for the Eleventh Doctor, written in the style of Target Books legend, Terrence Dicks.

Well, that's a bit of a waste of time, isn't it? Matt OBVIOUSLY has a young/old face with a shock of brown hair. It's Six-to-Ten we need good (well, Terrance Dicksian) descriptions of.

Now I don't want to alarm anybody.....

Unlikely rumor since his contract is for 3 yrs with an option for 2 more. The BBC didn't want him doing a runner like Tennant at the height of his popularity (and marketing appeal).

Surely Matt knows a good thing when he's in it.

Yeah - I'll believe a word that Tory rag publishes when hell freezes over.

Mind you, the idea that the BBC lawyers might have been able to cobble together a proper contract for once is almost as unlikely...

Still, Matt certainly seems to be having fun. And it's not as if he has to rush off to Hollywood or whatever before too late - he's about NINE.

Still, Matt certainly seems to be having fun

Yeah, he is. He had some big shoes to fill, but he's doing a great job.

SPOILER FOR DEATH OF THE DOCTOR:

Well, it's official, Matt Smith has ensured the Doctor's longevity by telling Clyde that Time Lords are immortal:

http://www.tvovermind.com/cable/bbc-america/doctor-who-tv-news/doctor-the-doctor-immortal-bbc/34225

(This may already be in the SJA "Death of the Doctor" page, but I won't read that until I've seen the episode.)

I watched an absolute piece of ••••, sometimes known as the Telemovie, last night, and I noticed that the twelve-life limitation was referred to as a 'rule,' so maybe it's not biological at all, and with the Time Lords gone, the Doctor and Master are free to regenerate indefinitely.

I can't think of any onscreen evidence that explicitly states it is biological.

That makes sense.

Nothing about that stupid limit makes sense, but if it was a mere rule, why did the Master need to go to such lengths in Deadly Assassin, Keeper of Traken, the telemovie, etc to cicumvent it?

Oh. Okay, it doesn't make sense then. Too bad; breaking the rules sounds like such a Doctor thing to do.

Because the Time Lords had a system in place to make sure the rule wouldn't get broken...?

They no doubt had a system in place for Time Lords ON GALLIFREY (slow-acting lethal injection while strapping 'em into the APC Net at the end of their thirteenth life? If they were all too thick to notice the black hole under the floorboards they were DEFINITELY too thick to cotton onto a bit of euthanasia) but how did they expect to make the renegades keep the rules? Davison certainly expected to come to a biological full stop in Mawdryn, for example. Whereas if it was some sort of rule to stop corrupting immortality, he could have politely asked the Time Lords for a few extra lives to replace his nicked ones...

Ah. Mawdryn defeinitely establishes it as more than a rule, doesn't it?

Oh well.

It could also be that something happened to him some time during his 8th & 9th incarnations that causeed him to become immortal.

Yeah, the Time Lords would have been crazy NOT to give all of their Time War fighters a new regeneration cycle or two...they were desperate enough to resurrect the MASTER, for heaven's sake...

Ok, how's this? The Time Lords invented a bit of bio-engineering that allows them to regenerate, which may be done indefinitely. Such code is programmed into their DNA. However, they eventually realize, like Rassilon and Mawdryn, that immoirtality is a curse, so it was decided to put a limit on it, and they decides the process should be done 12 times. All Time Lord DNA is rewritten with this upgrade.

Thus, in a way it is both a rule and a biological limitation. Troughton was not completely wrong when he said Time Lords can live forever. We know they have the ability to offer a new regeneration cycle (not because they said so but because the Master seemed to believe them), and this is simply a matter of flipping a certain switch in a TL's DNA.

Only problem with this theory: Why didn't Borusa just flip his setting back to indefinite regenerations?

Side note: They never actually said that all Time Lords regnerated exactly 12 times, only that 12 was the limit. I've wondered if there was some variation there.

Of course, flipping altering the DNA gene isn't as simple as I just wrote it. It must require tremendous energy.

Ok, how's this? The Time Lords invented a bit of bio-engineering that allows them to regenerate, which may be done indefinitely. Such code is programmed into their DNA. However, they eventually realize, like Rassilon and Mawdryn, that immoirtality is a curse, so it was decided to put a limit on it, and they decides the process should be done 12 times. All Time Lord DNA is rewritten with this upgrade.

Nice. VERY nice.

It's difficult to imagine any species deliberately turning their backs on immortality like that, but when they agreed to it, it WOULD have seemed comfortably in the future, what with thirteen lifetimes of, what, a thousand years apiece to look forward to...

Troughton was not completely wrong when he said Time Lords can live forever.

He did give a SERIOUSLY misleading impression, though. And his actual words were 'forever, barring accidents' - which a deliberate rewritten biological upgrade can hardly be described as.

Only problem with this theory: Why didn't Borusa just flip his setting back to indefinite regenerations?

He was probably suffering from a Time Lord condition known as Tennantitus. He LIKED his body. He wanted to stick with it. He was sick to death of regenerating every two minutes. He wanted immortality with this hair.

Side note: They never actually said that all Time Lords regnerated exactly 12 times, only that 12 was the limit. I've wondered if there was some variation there.

Presumably if a Time Lord gets killed too fast to regenerate.

Matt Smith visited the American talk show Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eJjFbrdIto

Huh. I see Matt's claiming that 'I've always wanted to be part of the Christmas Doctor Who experience' - boy, doesn't THAT show his age (or lack thereof). There's only BEEN a Christmas Doctor Who experience for FIVE YEARS (unless you count 'And a merry Christmas to all of you at home' and, let's face it, it's HIGHLY unlikely Matt grew up dreaming of saying THAT...).

Geronimo!

Right, so it's now:

End of Time Part Two
Eleventh Hour
Beast Below
Big Bang
Christmas Carol.

I THINK 'Bow ties are cool' still beats it as Eleven's official catchphrase, though. It just has so many exiting variations - fezzes are cool, stetsons are cool...

Geronimor is awful, even worse than allons-y.

Fezzes are cool is great though: "I wear a fez now."

Buh???

Tim:
You can just hear the fangirls squeeing now: " s e x bomb, s e x, bomb, you really turn me on!"

(Yes. I know that song was originally sung by a man about a woman. Consider this a blow for feminism!)

So. Matt's been nominated for a Bafta. As well he should be. The question is, however: what the hell's HE got that Eccy n'Tennant haven't??

A second series. There's something Eccy didn't have.

Rub salt into my gaping wounds, why don't you...

you asked....

He's got a bowtie. Bowties are cool.

And a fez (sometimes). And a Stetson.

Both of which are cool.

Congrats to Matt.

I think the Eleventh Doctor should set up a social networking website.

He could call it Fezbook.

LOL!

Do you know what I miss? Eleven hasn't done this since his first episode-- he smacked his head repeatedly and asked himself, "What am I missing?", then you saw a fast motion tour of his surroundings from various angles, before he figured out the old man was a double.
But this rapid-fire, multi-angle scene was never done again, and it's a shame since it appeared to be a new ability or power for this Doctor, and brought something new to the way we see him think.
Hopefully they'll do this again.

I think Moffat took that particular trick over to Sherlock and left it there.

I'd also like to see his quirky eating habits showcased at least once more, even as just a throwaway scene. Something like putting chocolate sauce on his potatoes, or frozen fish sticks in grape juice-- something gross and silly.

I guess it was just some post-regernation cravings.

Yes, we've barely seen him eat and drink since then! SO not fair! He's done nothing sillier than spitting his wine back into the glass...

Bookwyrme in The Doctor's Wife: The Doctor is getting really bloodthirsty, isn't he? Much more so than Mr. "No Second Chances" Ten.

Yes - when exactly did Matt cross the line? When he incited humanity to slaughter an entire race who'd never actually done them much harm? When he waved his sonic around to 'help' River as she personally massacred them? Or when he told the TARDIS to 'finish off' House? Is this the same bloke who went to such extraordinary lengths to redeem Kazran rather than just overthrow him? (Was THAT just cos it was Christmas and, as he told the Silence, it isn't Christmas now...?)

Is this the same bloke who went to such extraordinary lengths to redeem Kazran rather than just overthrow him?

Well, there was that isomorphic problem. Didn't look like he had a solution to that so he needed Kazran.

But when he was issuing his 'Whatever happens you'll have done it to yourself' threat it really looks as if the Doctor's gonna take some drastic and unpleasant action against Kazran. A quick Peasants' Revolt and the Counter-Revolutionary Scumbag would be operating those isomorphic controls whether he liked it or not.

And hey, who needs to solve the isomorphic problem anyway! Just get some singing to vibrate the half a sonic screwdriver in the flying shark! Easy! Or just...y'know...get the TARDIS to drag the spaceship out of trouble.

What I'm saying is, Matt had OPTIONS. He chose the most tricky and Web-of-Time-defying one because he wanted to drag Kazran all the way out of the dark...

Just get some singing to vibrate the half a sonic screwdriver in the flying shark! Easy!

On her last day. The Doctor didn't know what the countdown meant until it was too late, otherwise he'd have waited until the correct date instead of yanking her out of her shell every Xmas Eve just to give Kazran his willies.

Or just...y'know...get the TARDIS to drag the spaceship out of trouble.

Couldn't. Some technobabble about it not being able to lock on in those clouds.

'Good men don't need rules. Today is not the day to find out why I have so many' - wow. To think I thought 'Fear me. I've killed all of them' was chilling...

'Point a gun at me if it helps you relax. You're only human.' - God I LOVE it when the Doc goes all arrogant-Lonely-God on people...still, it's always a bit scary when he starts looking down on humans like this. Has he forgotten that all this fuss is to rescue a mere human?

Matt was our first Doctor born in the 1980s.
Can you imagine our first 1990s Doctor?

We don't have to imagine, he - or she - will hardly look younger than Matt...

I knew, I just KNEW that somewhere under that New Man exterior lurked some remnant of sexism from his first few selves. And BOY was I right. He may have been VERY VERY CAREFUL since the Time War to keep his gob shut about it (since there was always Jackie or Donna or SOMEONE around who'd slap him for it) but the moment he's dying - and therefore Amy won't kill him for it - he's making derogatory remarks blaming homicidal schizophrenic atittudes on being FEMALE rather than on being BRAINWASHED SINCE BIRTH.

Male chauvinist PIG.

Hey, that just proves he's the same man. I wonder if a female Doc would decry the male propensity for violence?

Matt Smith himself isn't sexist, blame the script. Actors are paid to act, not think.

Hey, that just proves he's the same man.

I have to admit, the warm happy glow of that very thought was even stronger than my feminist outrage.

I wonder if a female Doc would decry the male propensity for violence?

Given that she'd be genociding Daleks five minutes later...probably not. Unless she WANTED to look as much of a hypocritical idiot as Tennant criticising UNIT for carrying guns.

The local PBS station is rerunning the Patrick Troughton episodes & more than once I found myself thinking, "He reminds me of Matt Smith." which is ridiculous since Troughton came first, but I saw some Smith episodes recently & hadn't seen the Troughton episodes for a while.

I so want Smith to utter, "Oh my giddy aunt!" at some point.

He came close with the "Redecorated? Don't like it" comment in tonight's episode ("Closing Time").

Sarah did that too, in School Reunion...

It's official: Matt has the best catchphrase of ANY Doctor. He doesn't even have to SAY it any more. When he said 'I work in a shop now' was there any sentient being in the universe who didn't find themselves thinking 'Working in a shop is COOL!'??

I wansn't thinking that, but I recently got a new job in a shop.

I really liked the name Stormageddon.

I have to admit, I didn't think that either, but I still like the line. It's very Smith.

"i got a vajazzle. vajazzle's are cool"

"I've got a sucking chest wound. Sucking chest wounds are..." *falls over & regenerates* ;-)

lol!

I wansn't thinking that, but I recently got a new job in a shop.

Ah, well, that WOULD explain it. Everyone ELSE in the universe but people who actually DO work in shops.

I really liked the name Stormageddon.

Me too! I've occasionally considered changing my patriarchal and ludicrously boring surname, but decided it would be way too much bother, especially as I didn't have any particular surname in mind. But Stormageddon is REALLY tempting me...

I have to admit, I didn't think that either

WHAT! NO ONE in the universe except me...??

"I've got a sucking chest wound. Sucking chest wounds are..." *falls over & regenerates* ;-)

Those have SO got to be his last words.

And his last words may be coming pretty soon...

From Gallifrey Base:

During his latest visit to the USA current Doctor Matt Smith spoke to VH1, who asked the actor about his future plans at that side of the Atlantic:

When are we going to have you?
Well, hopefully soon, you know. 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...

What the hell is these people's PROBLEM???

Why do they always LEAVE me????

If he'd just open up his eyes and see what kind of 'success' others like Tom Bakr, Paul McGann, or Peter Davison have had in Hollywood, I think he'd figure out he should stay in Britiain AND Doctor Who and realize that there is no higher level of success than being the Doctor.
If he wants to leave to do a movie and do his sixth season after that then no problem, but definitely not the resigning of the role to the 12th actor.

Hear, hear. If Tennant couldn't make it in America, what on Earth makes MATT think he can do it? And as for leaving before the fiftieth anniversary year...

And let's not forget how RTD himself crashed and burned in the Miracle Day debacle.

Maybe Matt just wants to come a do a movie between Who seasons. So far he hasn't said anything about leaving the show for good.

I got the impression other people actually liked Miracle Day.

Oh. Yeah. It's easy to forget it got respectable viewing figures and excellent audience appreciation figures...

It is utterly adorable of the Doctor to think that human courtship consists of 'texting and scones' when he's trying to get Amy and Rory together in Wedding of River Song. And then he goes all nudge-nudge wink-wink when it comes to what he and River will be doing in her cell at night. I'm still trying to work out how he manages to be the most innocent AND the dirtiest-minded of Doctors.

I thought you'd get a kick out of this one Emily, Matt sure did =8)

http://watch.spacecast.com/#clip530723

Don't be surprised, a short promo video will play before the actual one.

Tried twice, saw the ad twice,got an error message twice.

I think that's a hint!!!

Darn it.

Ok, try this one, I posted it on my own small personal file site.

http://mousemaps.co30.com/MattSmithInnerSpace.wmv

The video quality is somewhat inferior but there is no promo, and this one should work.

Alas, how soon poor TennantDoc has been forgotten...

Not by me! Although to be fair, Matt is objectively sexier. Tennant's just so much more interesting.

SERIOUSLY?

But then, what do I know of sexiness? A LIFETIME spent gazing adoringly at TARDIS interiors, and NOT ONCE did I realise they were sexy until the Eleventh Doctor told me so.

I love Matt Smith as the Doctor. Even though he is the youngests actor to portray our favorite Time lord, he can play a remarkable range of emotions, from the exhuberant kid in a candy store:

(Amy: I mean if you could make it all the way to Earth why steal technology that could barely make it to the moon?
The Doctor: Maybe 'cause it's cooler! Look at how cool this stuff is!)

To dark and menacing:

(Trust you. Sure. But first of all, Doctor Song, just one thing. Who are you? You're someone from my future—getting that—but who? {silence}. Okay. Why are you in prison? Who did you kill? Hm? {silence} Now I love a bad girl, me. But trust you? Seriously?)

To old and so very tired:

(The cracks are closing. But they can't close properly until I'm on the other side. I don't belong here anymore. I think I'll skip the rest of the rewind. I hate repeats. Live well, love Rory. Bye bye Pond.)

And everything in between. And he can go from one to the other in the blink of an eye. And he makes it all feel so totally believable. I love Matt Smith as the Doctor.

=8)

Completely agree. He is so the Doctor.

Even more dark and menacing: Fear me. I killed them all.

This should make you happy, Emily: http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/8845/matt-smith-i-aint-leaving-doctor-who.html

Huh. THE DOCTOR LIES.

Still...he'd have to be insane to leave when the Fiftieth Anniversary is coming up.

Hmm. If they could pull it off, a SURPRISE regeneration for the Fiftieth would be quite spectacular.

Huh. THE DOCTOR LIES.

But that's not the Doctor talking, it's Matt Smith.

True, but everyone involved in Who Production has been well-trained to lie through their teeth to us (well, except Catherine Tate who accidentally let Tennant's BETRAYAL AND ABANDONMENT of us slip, months early).

Couple of worrying things in the Christmas Special - 'Why would you rewire a wardrobe? 'Have you seen the way I dress?' - if Matt has finally lost faith in bow ties then he's a DEAD MAN WALKING, I tell you.

Also: 'I can't FEEL the way you do, not any more' - the Doc's no longer an emotional Time War wreck, he should be able to feel stuff, especially given that a) he's a newly-wed, and b) all he has to feel to steer that stupid ship is that the TARDIS is HOME - and surely he still feels THAT, at least?

In another Downfall parody, Hitler reacts to the Eleventh Doctor.

He's almost as passionate about it as Emily...

From Doctorwhonews.net, here's an update on Matt's time on Doctor Who:

"Matt Smith was interviewed on the TARDIS set by Steve Hargrave for ITV1's Daybreak, during which he discussed Karen Gillan's departure, and his and the show's future: she’s a great friend, and creatively I have a really interesting relationship with her and Arthur, but I think by the same token the show is bigger than any of us - it’s been going in 2013 fifty years and it will continue way after me. It’s a thrill playing the part - as you see, this is work, this is home, I spend a lot of time here - I don’t want to give it up anytime soon. We've got a whole season to make, a Christmas special as well, so no time soon, I won’t be leaving anytime soon." Additionally, the Radio Times quoted him as saying: "We’ll get this season out the way and see where I’m at. I take it season by season and I take the job day by day because there’s no other way you can do it."

That's good news. Looks like Matt Smith will be with us for a while, even though he's obviously keeping his options open, as any good actor should.

KYLE in New Series: The Doctor's Wife thread: The Doctor knows love (when have we ever seen him cry like he did over his TARDIS when she disappeared?) but is dense as dwarf-star-alloy when it comes to why Amy and Rory don't want bunk beds? Or is he being intentionally obtuse because he doesn't like the idea of husband and wife sharing a bad on his TARDIS?

Oh, I'm quite sure Eleven did truly imagine that there was nothing more thrilling than a bed with a ladder. He's the most innocent of the Doctors (just look at him pretending to know what Amy's talking about when she's trying to seduce him) while at the same time being the only one that makes dirty jokes (Vampires of Venice's 'Mine's bigger than yours' 'Let's not go there', Black Spot's 'Freud would say your compensating for something'). And, of course, he's the first Doctor who's almost certainly having sex.

Not sure where to put this one, but here looks like a good place.

Yeah, but poor old Yoda was stuck with the same body that whole time! And I'd like to see the Doctor lift an X-wing out of the swamp with his mind.

The Doctor considers that moving stuff with your mind is ridiculously old-fashioned and you should try a fork-lift truck instead.

Well, that's what he told the Sisterhood of Karn, anyway. Shortly before they tried to burn him alive.

The Doctor would get lighteninged or choked if he tried to take on the Emperor in Star Wars

The Doctor got lightninged in End of Time and Evolution of the Daleks. And choked in Deadly Assassin and Pyramids of Mars. And HE'S STILL HERE.

The Doctor would get lighteninged or choked if he tried to take on the Emperor in Star Wars
Nah, the 3rd doctor was probably good friends with old Palpy & the only reason he didn't do anything about those evil rebels was because the fall of the Empire was a fixed point in time. ;-)

Here is a beautiful fan made video of the Eleventh Doctor remembering Rose.

'I'm not an idiot,' said Matt Smith at the screening of Asylum of the Daleks. 'I'm not going to leave Doctor Who when it's in its biggest year.'

Wonderful news!

(OK, I was kinda hoping he'd unexpectedly regenerate into a woman for the fiftieth anniversary, but wonderful news ANYWAY.)

Just imagine a woman Doctor! Bras hanging on the outside of the TARDIS bedroom door.

As we're unlikely to ever SEE a TARDIS bedroom door (or any OTHER non-console-room) I don't regard that as an insurmountable problem.

'See them shine. See how valuable they are. Enjoy your bombs.' - has any Doctor EVER sneered quite so cold-bloodedly at his victims as he killed them? Even Colin Baker had the consideration to wait till they were DEAD before manking unamusing comments.

'Patience is for wimps' - I always KNEW that was his attitude, all eleven of him, but I think this is the first time he's actually SAID it.

'I've run restaurants' - when would HE ever have the patience to run a restaurant? Though he WAS surprisingly good at cooking in The Lodger...I hope to god this hasn't canonised The Crystal Bucephalus.

'You were the first. The first face this face saw. And you were seared onto my hearts.' That would certainly explain Tennant's attitude to Rose. And was the Brig the first person Pertwee saw? That might help explain how he never quite managed to get away from him, even when the TARDIS was finally working. Was Sarah or the Brig the first person Tom saw? He didn't have much trouble dumping EITHER of 'em. And it definitely doesn't apply to Troughton's attitude towards Ben and Polly. Or Davison's to Tegan, Nyssa and Adric. Or McCoy's to Mel. And Colin tried to THROTTLE Peri...

So the Doc thinks he won't last long with only one heart? What a wimp. And I guess that puts paid to the books' claim that Hartnell only had 'One heart, soon to meet its twin'.

'See them shine. See how valuable they are. Enjoy your bombs.' - has any Doctor EVER sneered quite so cold-bloodedly at his victims as he killed them?

Again, this is exactly what the Dreamlord would do. And so would the terrible thing that was supposedly locked up in the Pandorica, who turned out to be him. The Doctor's dark side has not gone away, it's always there with him, it wants to come out, and it must be so very tiring for him to always fight against it to keep it subdued.

Unlike Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader), the Doctor will never fully turn to the Dark Side.

Sorry--the films clearly state that Anakin never turned fully to the dark side.

I think the line went--There is still good within you. I have felt it.

The Doctor I'm not so sure about.

The Doctor's dark side has not gone away, it's always there with him, it wants to come out, and it must be so very tiring for him to always fight against it to keep it subdued.

Ah yes. One thing entirely consistent across the RTG and Moff eras is the way the Doc's FRIENDS are convinced he'll go totally off the rails if they take their eyes off him. (Mind you, Matt DID manage 200 doom-laden years alone, so what do THEY know.)

It just makes him EVEN MORE HEROIC. Not to mention interesting. Who wants to go back to the Davison days?

'Good men don't need rules. Now is not the time to find out why I have so many.' I bloody LOVE that line.

Unlike Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader), the Doctor will never fully turn to the Dark Side.

Well, providing you ignore Trial of a Time Lord, as any sane person would.

Sorry--the films clearly state that Anakin never turned fully to the dark side.

I think the line went--There is still good within you. I have felt it.

The Doctor I'm not so sure about.

You SERIOUSLY think the Doctor could turn TOTALLY EVIL? Even in the Colin Baker days he still saved a world on a weekly basis. Even in his (tragically short) Time Lord Victorious days he was utterly focused on SAVING LIVES. (Am desperately trying to think of SOMETHING redeeming about Hartnell's smash-'em-over-the-head-with-a-rock days but nothing's springing to mind.)

I wouldn't mind seeing the Doctor with star wars-type Force powers. Force-choking anyone who got in his way...

Emily- "So the Doc thinks he won't last long with only one heart? What a wimp."

I wouldn't say so. I think neither of us would enjoy having just one lung. That would definitely compromise our world-saving ability, namely after the instruction of "RUN!"

Melanie - "I wouldn't mind seeing the Doctor with star wars-type Force powers. Force-choking anyone who got in his way..."

"These are not the companions you're looking for..."

You SERIOUSLY think the Doctor could turn TOTALLY EVIL?

A totally evil Doctor would be beyond scary.

I think neither of us would enjoy having just one lung. That would definitely compromise our world-saving ability, namely after the instruction of "RUN!"

True, but we're just pathetic human wimps. The Doctor's considerably tougher than we are - he can go without BREATHING for hours, for heaven's sake. So what utterly vital purpose does a second heart serve? Especially as there were serious indications that HE DIDN'T HAVE A SECOND HEART in his first TWO incarnations.

A totally evil Doctor would be beyond scary.

Or just incredibly stupid and unconvincing. Like the Valeyard, or the David Collins Doctor from the Unbound Full Fathom Five. They're just...not the Doctor, ergo, they're like any other stupid megalomaniac.

Emily:You SERIOUSLY think the Doctor could turn TOTALLY EVIL?

After seeing:....

The Valeyard....

The Time Lord Victorious....

The Dream Lord....

And(with the possible exceptiom of 8) every Doctor coldly willing to watch others die--somerimes on a extinction level....

I'd have to call that a clear-cut YES.

We only have the Master's word for it that the Valeyard IS the Doctor, the Time Lord Victorious was on his knees begging for forgiveness in two minutes flat, and the Dream Lord was a REALLY bad drugs trip. And there's nothing wrong with coldly watching people die, as the Cybermen pointed out quite correctly in Tenth Planet, WE do it ALL THE TIME.

Emily, are you really that hard up to prove me wrong????

Emily:We only have the Master's word for it that the Valeyard IS the Doctor, the Time Lord Victorious was on his knees begging for forgiveness in two minutes flat, and the Dream Lord was a REALLY bad drugs trip.

These are things you've been accepting(and griping about) for years--are they now in question????

Emily:And there's nothing wrong with coldly watching people die, as the Cybermen pointed out quite correctly in Tenth Planet, WE do it ALL THE TIME.

Are you really willing to let the Cybermen set your moral code just to prove me wrong????

(Note:the Doctor doesn't just watch people die--he watches(and sometimes causes) whole races to die--only the Daleks can be as cold-hearted.)

You might want to think a bit before we go further.

Emily, are you really that hard up to prove me wrong????...

These are things you've been accepting(and griping about) for years--are they now in question????

I'm still suffering from drastic withrawal-symptoms. OF COURSE I'm prepared to do drastic u-turns just to get a good argument about Who, though in THIS case I'm not convinced that's what I'm doing. I've never emotionally accepted that Valeyard=Doctor, though obviously since it was categorically stated on-screen I had the right to whinge about it for a few decades. As far as I remember there was nothing new about my attitude towards the Time Lord Victorious or the Dream Lord.

Are you really willing to let the Cybermen set your moral code just to prove me wrong????

Of course not - I've ALWAYS found that Cyber-statement in Tenth Planet incredibly shocking because it's so TRUE.

(Note:the Doctor doesn't just watch people die--he watches(and sometimes causes) whole races to die--only the Daleks can be as cold-hearted.)

This IS the same Doctor who doomed the universe because he had a 'Have I the right?' dilemma over killing the Daleks...and who exiled his other self for the 'crime' of killing some Daleks to save every universe ever?

Emily:I've never emotionally accepted that Valeyard=Doctor, though obviously since it was categorically stated on-screen I had the right to whinge about it for a few decades.

Hey that's exactly how I feel about the EccyDoc--I just wish it would go away. Does this give me the Okay to state what I feel about Eccy for the next couple of decades???

Emily:As far as I remember there was nothing new about my attitude towards the Time Lord Victorious or the Dream Lord.

I'd have to do research on that to be sure-and I just noticed that my clock tells me it 4:00 a.m.--so I'm not going to do it now.

On the other hand all three are canon--and all show darkness hidden deep within the Doctor.

As has been talked about in other sections--there have also been other places where a darkness within is hinted at.

So yes--I can see the Doctor going to the darkside--and unlike Anakin, I'm not sure there's anything that could pull him back.

Emily: Of course not - I've ALWAYS found that Cyber-statement in Tenth Planet incredibly shocking because it's so TRUE.

It may be TRUE--But that doesn't make it right.

One of the base premises of Who is that good does need to fight evil--with the exception of Hartnell(who seemed to want only to keep a low profile) every Doctor has followed this ideal.

It's part of what makes him a hero.

Emily:This IS the same Doctor who doomed the universe because he had a 'Have I the right?' dilemma over killing the Daleks...

And oddly-this is the ONLY TIME he ever had this debate.

How many others have we seen told "tough--your time is done" when a little thought and effort might have given them a new lease on life.(Not all were evil--some were victoms only seeking a second chance.)

Oops- I see I forgot something again--

Emily:...and who exiled his other self for the 'crime' of killing some Daleks to save every universe ever?

If you're talking where I think you are(the HandDoctor/BlueDoctor)--I didn't see this as sending him into exile.

I saw it as setting him up as champion of an ungaurded universe.

Ten gave him everything he needed--a purpose,friends, a companion(his own beloved Rose)--plus in a deleted scene a piece of the Tardis(which he said would grow into another Tardis).

How much would you give to be punished this way???

Hey that's exactly how I feel about the EccyDoc--I just wish it would go away. Does this give me the Okay to state what I feel about Eccy for the next couple of decades???

Of course it does, when a relevant occasion arises - like when you're rewatching the Eccleston Era, for example...;)

On the other hand all three are canon--and all show darkness hidden deep within the Doctor.

As has been talked about in other sections--there have also been other places where a darkness within is hinted at.

OF COURSE the Doctor's got a darkness within! He'd be dead boring if he hadn't! But you're talking about him turning EVIL. Which - even when he's destroying his own species whilst yelling at them to go to hell - he's somehow TOTALLY avoided, bless him, give or take a few Hartnell- and Colin-related incidents.

So yes--I can see the Doctor going to the darkside--and unlike Anakin, I'm not sure there's anything that could pull him back.

ALL it would take to pull him back is one attractive female telling him not to.

Emily: Of course not - I've ALWAYS found that Cyber-statement in Tenth Planet incredibly shocking because it's so TRUE.

It may be TRUE--But that doesn't make it right.

Actually I think it IS right that we DON'T all care about EVERY other human - and animal - on this planet ALL THE TIME. We'd go insane.

One of the base premises of Who is that good does need to fight evil--with the exception of Hartnell(who seemed to want only to keep a low profile) every Doctor has followed this ideal.

Oh, even Hartnell followed it...eventually. About Time identifies The Sensorites (episode 4-ish) where the Doctor CAN leave, his own problems solved...but voluntarily decides to stay on to help the Sensorites and solve the mystery.

And oddly-this is the ONLY TIME he ever had this debate.

He has the have-I-the-right debate A LOT. He just doesn't articulate it as beautifully as Tom did in Genesis.

How many others have we seen told "tough--your time is done" when a little thought and effort might have given them a new lease on life.(Not all were evil--some were victoms only seeking a second chance.)

Don't be fooled by tough-talking 'No second chances - I'm that sort of a man' nonsense. The Doc's ALWAYS giving people other chances. And it gets INNOCENT people killed - I'm 100% with Matt's 'This is the day I honour the victims' speech. (Except, of course, that I'm NOT because it wouldn't be Doctor Who for much longer if he started going round blowing the bad guys' brains out.)

I saw it as setting him up as champion of an ungaurded universe.

Frankly that unguarded universe seemed to get along pretty well without the Doctor. In fact, better than the original, seeing as they had to keep popping through to SAVE said original from destruction. A nasty piece of evidence for the theory that we'd all be better off if the Doc just LEFT US ALONE.

Ten gave him everything he needed--a purpose,friends, a companion(his own beloved Rose)--plus in a deleted scene a piece of the Tardis(which he said would grow into another Tardis).

How much would you give to be punished this way???

Anything. Anything. ANYTHING. Punish me now!

But I wouldn't fancy the Doc calling me a genocidal rage-filled maniac.

'The Doctor under Amy and Rory eventually became like their pet, he was just this sort of strange pet that could talk, that would sweep in every now and then' - Matt Smith in today's Independent interview. That's TOTALLY not how I saw that relationship.

'The reason why, I think, the Doctor laughs at danger is because he's got so much blood on his hands - so much guilt - that if he didn't, he'd hang himself' - gee, thanks, Matt.

I think it's actually a great insight in the Doctor's character.

"if he didn't, he'd hang himself"

What?! He doesn't know about the respiratory bypass system?!

He doesn't know about the respiratory bypass system?

That wouldn't stop hanging being fatal. Depending how the knot is fastening, and the length of the rope, hanging can break the neck or even cause decapitation.

If neither of those happen, the victim still dies, eventually. It'd be like crucifixion: the weight of the dangling legs stop the diaphragm moving properly, interfering with breathing, and the victim spends hours to days suffocating.

Hanging doesn't kill you just by cutting off your breathing. It also kills you by cutting off blood circulation to the brain.

I guess Matt needs to work at something else since the Doctor Who seasons now have so few episodes in them. He has bills to pay like everyone else I suppose.

Farewell, Matt Smith.

Now for our 12th Doctor.

What. The. ••••.

He was SUPPOSED to be staying on another year!

And if he's BETRAYING AND ABANDONING US, why do it at the Christmas Special instead of REGENERATING INTO A WOMAN IN THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY STORY as I suggested YEARS ago...?

Gosh, this is quite exciting. The first time in decades the loss of a Doctor has been A BLOODY SHAME without it also BREAKING MY HEART AND RUINING MY LIFE.

I want him to regenerate at Christmas if only to stop Emily's ranting and wailing earlier than the last time....

Ok, what did I miss? Matt Smith is not leaving Doctor Who, as far as I know.

If they wanted to really break the mould they'd cast an eight-year-old girl who's a ballerina as the Doctor ;)

Nevermind, I should have asked Google before commenting.

One question comes to mind. If they were able to keep John Hurt playing a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor a secret until the big reveal, why announce Matt Smith's departure so long in advance? Why not keep THAT a secret too and make his next regeneration the big surprise reveal of the Christmas special?

What? Already!?!? He just got here!

Why can't these new Doctors have a long run like Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker did

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22741493

Read the comments they are not kind, the replacement had better be good and they really need to sort themselves out. Also we're onto possibly the final regeneration. Unless River gave her's to the doctor. She did sacrifice them so that's probably going to be their get out. Otherwise the show ends in 2016 at this rate.

I want him to regenerate at Christmas if only to stop Emily's ranting and wailing earlier than the last time....

Hey! In what way did Eccy n'Tennant regenerating into Doctors I loved stop me ranting and wailing forever more about their TRAGIC loss and UNFORGIVABLE betrayals...?

Anyway - I'm not in love with Matt. That doesn't make much difference when I'm WORSHIPPING him on-screen, but it makes all the difference in the world at moments like THIS.

If they wanted to really break the mould they'd cast an eight-year-old girl who's a ballerina as the Doctor ;)

They wouldn't have to. ANY female would break the mould into a million pieces, at least as far as a few million fans are concerned.

Fingers crossed...

One question comes to mind. If they were able to keep John Hurt playing a previously unknown incarnation of the Doctor a secret until the big reveal, why announce Matt Smith's departure so long in advance? Why not keep THAT a secret too and make his next regeneration the big surprise reveal of the Christmas special?

IF ONLY but NOT A CHANCE. Getting Hurt in to play SOMEONE for five minutes IN A STUDIO would - like the surprise appearance of Catherine Tate in Doomsday - be quite achievable, barring some really bad luck. Auditioning hundreds of people to be a REAL Doctor AND stopping Matt taking on any roles that would OBVIOUSLY stop him filming for Who for months...not so much.

At least we only have two episodes where the surprise of Matt's Doom will be ruined. As opposed to TWELVE with Eccy.

Even if he'll be sharing his next ep with TWO other Doctors and his final ep with ONE other Doctor so it's not as if we'll have much chance to WALLOW in our last moments of Bow Tie Boy.

What? Already!?!? He just got here!

I knoooooow! What IS it with this pathetic three-year obsession? What's the MATTER with these wimps?

Why can't these new Doctors have a long run like Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker did

Especially as Matt of all people could have given us SEVERAL MORE YEARS and STILL have been insanely young enough to go off to Holywood or whatever pathetic thing he's got in mind.

Also we're onto possibly the final regeneration. Unless River gave her's to the doctor. She did sacrifice them so that's probably going to be their get out.

That or the fact Matt SAID he could regenerate 507 times in Death of the Doctor. After all, the Time Lords would have been INSANE to send him off to fight on the front line of the Time War without giving him the new regeneration cycle they've been capable of since The Five Doctors. (Of course, the Time Lords ARE insane...)

So long as it's an actor I don't know. Took me forever to stop seeing Tristan last time I knew the actor.

And it had better be an ACTOR and not an ACTRESS. I just don't want a Time Lady in the TARDIS. Sue me, I want a male Doctor.

And what's all this about a racial minority Doctor?
I hate that they don't want someone as the Doctor on their merit, but instead to make some sort of political statement.

Why would Matt leave a steady paying job to risk Hollywood. David Tennant did that, and it didn't work out for him (he starred in an NBC pilot after he left Who, which didn't get picked up).

Matt, as Emily said, you're young. Stick it out on Who for another five years at least. We were just getting used to you!

Why can't these new Doctors have a long run like Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker did[?]

You're not Gold Usher, are you?

I just don't want a Time Lady in the TARDIS. Sue me, I want a male Doctor.

But...why? And how desperately? Presumably you'd take Helen Mirren over the return of Colin Baker...?

And what's all this about a racial minority Doctor?
I hate that they don't want someone as the Doctor on their merit, but instead to make some sort of political statement.

Well, to be honest, it's a bit surprising that 'the best possible person for the job' has ALWAYS been a white male. Especially now the Hurt creature has revealled there are EVEN MORE of these white males around than hitherto suspected...the next thing you know, all those (white male) Morbius faces will be canonised...

Why would Matt leave a steady paying job to risk Hollywood. David Tennant did that, and it didn't work out for him (he starred in an NBC pilot after he left Who, which didn't get picked up).

Yes! I trust Tennant is repenting of his evil ways and I hope Matt will too!

Matt, as Emily said, you're young. Stick it out on Who for another five years at least. We were just getting used to you!

And Matt Smith specifically mentioned Trenzalore when saying that he was leaving us! Ergo, ELEVEN is gonna die there! And the Great Intelligence referred to him as an 'old man' when he did so! Either they're gonna have to go wild with the ageing make-up or Matt should have stayed a good many more decades...

You're not Gold Usher, are you?

GOLD USHER WAS RIGHT.

And what's all this about a racial minority Doctor?

Lets not forget that Timelords and Gallifreyans are NOT humans, and I would have no problems whatsoever with them ALWAYS being played by white men or women, if this is the way their species has evolved. Have we ever even SEEN a non white Timelord? There is such a thing as TOO MUCH and MISSPLACED political correctness.

Yes, we HAVE seen a non-white Time Lord - introducing Little-Master to the Untempered Schism. And, of course, we've seen cross-racial regeneration, from Mels to River.

"Lets not forget that Timelords and Gallifreyans are NOT humans, and I would have no problems whatsoever with them ALWAYS being played by white men or women."

Why? Are white men and women not human?

"Have we ever even SEEN a non white Timelord?"

Yes.

"There is such a thing as TOO MUCH and MISSPLACED political correctness."

Because obviously its literally impossible that a black or Asian actor might get cast because they're considered the best candidate for the job?

Why? Are white men and women not human?

Yes they are, but the Timelords are not, and one shouldn't expect them to automatically have the same racial mix we do.

Because obviously its literally impossible that a black or Asian actor might get cast because they're considered the best candidate for the job?

No it's not. Many such actors would be great in the role, and I would in fact like to see that change occur. But please please plleeeaase, don't do it JUST to cater to people's oversensitivity to racial issues.

Okay, we're getting a bit off topic here folks. This thread is about Matt Smith, not what actors/actresses can play the Doctor.

But please please plleeeaase, don't do it JUST to cater to people's oversensitivity to racial issues.

Oh, don't worry, Moffat's the LAST person to cater to political correctness. Not only do we have the infamous 'and she's a woman' comment from Let's Kill Hitler, there's also the widespread assumption LAST time - what with Obama just being elected, and all - that this was TOTALLY the moment for a black Doctor, whereupon Moffat just (quite rightly) decided '****** that, it's Matt Smith'.

Okay, we're getting a bit off topic here folks. This thread is about Matt Smith, not what actors/actresses can play the Doctor.

True, but if Matt doesn't like it HE SHOULDN'T HAVE BETRAYED AND ABANDONED US, should he.

Kate:
Most people advocating a minority or female doctor don't want a merit-based candidate, they want to make a political statement with it. "quotas" are also to make the same political statement rather than merit-based.

"the Timelords are not, and one shouldn't expect them to automatically have the same racial mix we do."

Why not? They seem to resemble humans outwardly in all other respects.

And, as we have seen, some of them are black.

"Most people advocating a minority or female doctor don't want a merit-based candidate"

So when someone says "why not cast a great actor like Idris Elba or Patterson Joseph as the Doctor" they're basically lying? And one someone objects that they're taking a principled stand against evil political subversion rather than being a massive racist tool?

At the risk of devolving further towards P&R:

---
So when someone says "why not cast a great actor like Idris Elba or Patterson Joseph as the Doctor" they're basically lying?
---
No, but when they start to bring in reasons for them to get the role other than them being a great actor, then it starts to cast doubt on their reasons for suggesting them.

---
And one someone objects that they're taking a principled stand against evil political subversion rather than being a massive racist tool?
---
Again, not necessarily. Depends on what language they're using themselves.

Idris Elba is certainly a fine actor, but Luther's coming back for a third series and possibly a movie, so it's unlikely he'd be available to take the role (cue Emily saying that people should be honoured to even be considered for the role, and should drop everything ;)).

I've not seen much of Patterson Joseph's work that I remember, but he's just taken a role in Law and Order UK. So I doubt he'll be available either.

Again, this thread is about Matt Smith.

Maybe Emily can move these "who should be the next Doctor" to their proper place.

But...why? And how desperately? Presumably you'd take Helen Mirren over the return of Colin Baker...?

Well, not that desperately obviously, but I would be disappointed with a female Doctor. How can I crush on Helen Mirren? I haven't been able to do so with Matt either and that's sucked some of the fun out of the show. Or maybe it's been Moffat's weird plotless plots. Can't tell.

Swings and roundabouts. Sure, one throws slightly less of one's heart and soul into the stories if one merely loves, worships and adores the current Doctor instead of being IN LOVE with him. But MY GOD the JOY AND RELIEF that one's NOT in love with him when the ******* betrays and abandons one...

Plus, I'm sure a female Doctor would have a VERY attractive male sidekick...

... or two.

Hmm, I hadn't thought of the attractive sidekick... but the sidekicks are usually kids. That won't work.

What about captain Jack?

*sings in French accent*

Captain Jack!

Captain Jack!

Captain Jack and his little white cap!

Am I the only one hearing that song sung to the tune of "Postman Pat"?

If you could see the face I'm making right now, you'd know Jack ain't gonna cut it.

Ah bless, the Doctor has sent us a message:

http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2013/06/a-message-from-doctor.html

He LIKES us! Unlike John Simm, but then what can you EXPECT of the Master?

And what's with that weird short hair? How long will it take to grow it out into the insane floppy mop we all know and love? When is the Christmas Special being filmed? Does this add weight to the idea that they're just pretending Matt will still be with us at Christmas, so as to give us a 'shock' regeneration during our Fiftieth, which is OBVIOUSLY the time the Doctor SHOULD regenerate? (Let's face it: showing us a wonderful new Doctor at Christmas (even if he DID spend most of his time asleep) was a lot more successful than showing us a wonderful old Doctor spending the whole of Christmas wailing 'Oh god I'm gonna die'.)

And what's with that weird short hair?

That and the leather coat gives him a Ninth Doctor vibe.

When is the Christmas Special being filmed?

According to the news about the 12th Doctor's next identity, (which you have posted yourself by the way) they start filming this coming fall.

Bow ties are cool.

And so is Matt Smith!

Classy guy! Long Live The Hair And Chin!

Well, they're NOT exactly gonna live much longer, are they?

Though IF he was telling the truth about his 200-year Farewell Tour back in Closing Time, at least Matt lasted a couple of centuries longer than those wimps Eccy n'Tennant, who clocked up all of six years BETWEEN THEM.

Matt Smith's IGN Interview at ComicCon 2013 in San Diego.

With his hair short Matt looks like Ecclestone, so maybe they can get Matt to play him for the anniversary special? ;-)

Aaaaah! Eccleston, not stone! D'oh!

To be honest, Karen Gillan looks more like Eccleston these days...

Aha! we cast Karen to play Eccleston early in his regeneration to explain away the bewbs and further north accent. ;-)

I made a comment under the 12th Doctor's board that Emily took "mortal offense" to, so I must answer her here. I said that Matt Smith won me over with the delivery of his line "Hello. I'm the Doctor. Basically…run" and Emily took umbrage that I somehow disparaged the "Food Scene".

While I agree the whole lead-up to "fish fingers and custard" was great fun, to me it didn't quite capture the essence of the Doctor like the like I quoted did. Yes, the Doctor can be quite batty and fun and quirky, and in point of fact Matt Smith's examination and tossing of ties to Rory while questioning the Atraxi is quirky and fun, but also carries with it the necessary sense that the Doctor is intensely protective of these wee creatures called Humans.

What put Smith's delivery spot-on was the way in which he looked both strangely quirky while delivering a line that veered very quickly from affable ("Hello. I'm the Doctor.") to dangerous ("Basically…run.") Remember, this is a being who is incredibly powerful and who pretty much destroyed his own race, so he's got to be dangerous as well as quirky and funny and odd.

He's dangerous in The Food Scene! I wouldn't like to be those beans when he said 'Bad, BAD beans!' And he made BLATANTLY racist remarks in a way I haven't seen since the Master called Martha a freak. In fact, he was SO insanely violent and evil that he actually HURT AN OOCHIE, judging by that squawking noise after he chucked the bread-and-butter into the garden. What MORE do you want?!

Wait a minute, wait, wait, wait.
Something occurred to me today, and thanks to a new trailer calling Smith 'Eleven', I'm even more messed up.
Is he still the Eleventh Doctor?
Or is he now the Thirteenth, because of the War Doctor and Tennant and the severed hand?
Because if he's Thirteen, why did he (or rather his copy) begin to regenerate when the Impossibvle Astronaut shot him? If he was Thirteen, then he should have 'died' or the copy should have, and not needed additional shots to 'kill' him and stop the regeration process.
So is he still Eleven?

The way most people see it, he is still Eleven, because the Time War Doctor did not call himself the Doctor, and the Tennant-Hand thing was not a full regeneration.

If they call him the Eleventh in The Time of the Doctor, then it's good enough for me.

And Emily is NOT going to renumber the Doctor's incarnations, regardless of what anyone else says.

So there.

Is he still the Eleventh Doctor?
Or is he now the Thirteenth, because of the War Doctor and Tennant and the severed hand?

Yup.

THAT.

According to Time of the Doctor, if not anything else in Who history or, indeed, COMMON SENSE.

Because if he's Thirteen, why did he (or rather his copy) begin to regenerate when the Impossibvle Astronaut shot him?

QUITE.

The way most people see it, he is still Eleven, because the Time War Doctor did not call himself the Doctor, and the Tennant-Hand thing was not a full regeneration.

That was indeed the way EVERY sane person saw it. Before Moffat opened his big gob in Time of the Doctor.

'He's always taling about the day he did it' says Clara. In Day of the Doctor. Of the ELEVENTH DOCTOR.

Er...since WHEN?!

'I see it in his eyes every day, he'd do anything to change it' - ditto. Whatever happened to 'the man who forgets'? The man who not only forgot how many Ickle Kiddies he slaughtered that day, he even forgot that he'd ever bothered to COUNT 'em?

But if Smith was to be the last Doctor, how did he have regeneration energy to waste on River?

I wouldn't've minded this so much if it had been introduced earlier. I would expect the last Doctor to feel very mortal, act very old, and perhaps behave more cautiously. That certainly doesn't decribe Matt Smith.

Emily had the same reaction when Smith came in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CsLVTBPIAw

I SO did not!

I never threatened to watch Total Wipe Out (whatever THAT is) instead!

Aside from that our reactions were pretty identical, yeah.

Ah, Matt Smith, we hardly knew ye!

Nonsense! We had THREE FULL YEARS of Our Hero! (And HE had SEVERAL CENTURIES longer than any OTHER Doctor.) Not like *sob* those MAYFLIES, Eight and Nine...

I've blogged about my best and worst Smith episodes. Go your hardest...

Time of the Doctor:

'You're my boyfriend.' 'Ding dong, OK, brilliant! I may be a bit rusty in some areas, but I will glance at a manual' - So the Doctor DOES fancy Clara! I KNEW IT! Nightmare in Silver managed to get THAT wrong as WELL as everything else!

Bald Doctor just looks so HAPPY when Clara says 'Your ears are like rocket fins'. No doubt he misses being Eccy.

Appallingly paternalistic, just to stride into town and announce he's the new Sheriff. Hasn't he heard of DEMOCRACY? At least in Town Called Mercy he politely waited for the Sheriff to die for him and pass him the badge...

'So that's who blew up my TARDIS. I thought I'd left the bath running' - blimey. Does Matt have no CURIOSITY? Why didn't he actually INVESTIGATE who'd blown poor dear Sexy to smithereens?

'I'm a tough old bird. I'll be ages dying, way enough time to answer a question' - I'll admit that the Daleks who actually bothered to SHOOT the Doctor instead of chanting 'Exterminate!' a dozen times while he scarpered (viz, the Dalek Heroes in The Big Bang and The Stolen Earth) haven't had THAT much luck, but SURELY the concentrated blasts of several Daleks would do the trick almost instantaneously? I mean, the Doc's name is probably pretty LONG...and if he's cut off halfway through (or even right at the end) with a gurgle then the cowardly Time Lords will probably get the message...

'I'm OCD. What's their excuse?' 'Talk very fast, hope something good happens, take the credit' - I bloody LOVE the Eleventh Doctor. (Not particularly missing him, though. WANT MY CAPALDI! NOW!)

I see Emily's loyalty is already shifting.

I'm a total Doctor-slut, we all know that. I betrayed Tom for Eccy, I fell in love with Tennant while I was still prostrated over Eccy's grave, and now I'm drooling over Capaldi while Matt's bloodstains are still dripping down the TARDIS walls...(Er, metaphorically speaking. Obviously.)

Snowmen:

'One thing I learnt: the universe doesn't care' - look, Sunshine, if you didn't want to have a Last Ever (Pre-Data-Download) Meeting with your Lawful Wedded Wife...you shouldn't have taken her to the Singing Towers in a DVD Extra Scene, should you? SHOULD YOU?

And surely you must have noticed the universe doesn't give a •••• before now...? When you (apparently) blew up your home planet, for example...?

Is this - and Doctor Dances' 'Gimme a day like this' - the only time the Doctor IS deluded enough to think the universe might be bargained with?

'Now he prefers isolation to the possibility of pain's return' says Madame Vastra. Surely he's ALREADY in pain, with the loss of all three Ponds (or at least the two he actually CARES about)? Why would risking another mayfly-Companion's life on a daily basis cause the RETURN of pain?

'A key strategic weakness in metropolitan living if you ask me, but then I've never liked a tunnel' - since WHEN has the Doctor never liked a tunnel? And WHY?

Top 11 things we'll miss about the Eleventh Doctor.

God, yes. I certainly WOULD miss all that...if not for the magical time-travel device known as the DVD player.

I never realised he straightened that bow tie so much.

Matt Smith's time on the show seemed so short.

And yet the Tennant Golden Age seems so long ago...

Four years ago, it ended.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2014-05-27/viral-video-the-best-matt-smith-impersonation-ever

I mean unless he's lip-sycing or something...

Yeah, that is QUITE FREAKY.

Big Finish should sign him up IMMEDIATELY.

Deep Breath:

'Clara, I'm not your boyfriend.'

'I never thought you were.'

'I never said it was your mistake.' - So Eleven thought he WAS Clara's boyfriend? Why didn't he *shudders* try doing boyfriendy things with her, then?

'He sounds old, tell me I didn't get old, anything but old, I was young, is he grey' - Matt re his successor. So did he HATE his centuries as elderly crippled Trenzalore guru then? Did being old NEVER feel NORMAL or COMFORTABLE?

Did being old NEVER feel NORMAL or COMFORTABLE?

It doesn't feel comfortable to US, so why would it feel comfortable to a Time Lord? Plus, he had a very bad experience with being really old in Last of the Time Lords and probably doesn't like being reminded of it.

It doesn't feel comfortable to US, so why would it feel comfortable to a Time Lord?

Because it's their natural state? Even the ones who don't LOOK old certainly ACT it (well, the ones left on Gallifrey anyway), no doubt because they ARE all hundreds if not thousands of years old. And Hartnell always seemed PERFECTLY at home in his ancient skin. Plus they're almost certainly less prone to aches and pains than us mere humans (give or take that Deadly Assassin one whining about needing a hip replacement or something).

Plus, he had a very bad experience with being really old in Last of the Time Lords and probably doesn't like being reminded of it.

That was DIFFERENT. And being a bit wrinkly is the LEAST of your problems when you're watching your friends tortured and your favourite planet decimated and eating from a dog-bowl AND having to keep your famous gob shut cos you're tuning yourelf into some stupid network.

Whereas on Trenzalore I got the impression he was quite HAPPY. He was everyone's hero, he taught the kids to do Monoid puppet shows and dance the drunk giraffe, he had his faithful Handles by his side, he did a pretty good job of protecting the planet...after centuries of a really fulfilling old age it was just WRONG for Matt - the VERY SECOND he temporarily reverted to youth - to start slagging off useless senile old coffin-dodgers like he was, well, ME.

OK, so maybe he had a ghastly lonely hopeless nine hundred years on Trenzalore after all and I just can't bear to face up to it.

Matt takes the Ice Bucket challenge...

http://youtu.be/rrGjN58-vSQ

Email from Moffat to his casting director a few days before auditioning Matt Smith: 'I twitch every time we discuss the really young ones...Mysterious stranger! Dangerous past! And 27?...He's got scenes head to head with River Song, all sexy and tense. These boys might get stuck in her teeth.'

Bless!

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, That's Eleven-re

Honestly, this Doctor bloke has it made. Some guys have flashy, expensive cars, but he has a time and space machine. He really CAN make the earth move. So what's his problem? I mean, maybe he's just a decent fellow who won't break up a marriage, but... hey, Amy was begging for it! And what about all those companions in the past? Going backwards in time, a few spring to mind: Peri Brown, Nyssa, Leela, Jo Grant, Vicki... and then some others that might have worked, like Tegan, Romana (both of them), Sarah Jane Smith, Liz, etc, depending on taste. In the old days he was clearly too old; I couldn't have seen Jon Pertwee's Doc getting it on with Jo Grant, for instance. Or Tom Baker and Leela, for that matter. Hmm, or even Peter Davison and Nyssa/Peri, because he was a bit of a wet blanket. But the Smith Doctor and Amy? Definitely! ...If only he'd allow it.

She's his mother-in-law! And a thousand years younger than him! And an alien! And he accidentally groomed her as a kid!

I've been thinking about some of SmithDoc's most outrageous quips... Here are some of my favourites:

- Claiming he's a responsible and mature adult, which leads to the psychic paper short-circuiting.
- "Reverse the jelly baby of the neutron flow ! Would you like a... Doctor ?" (Kind of cheating, but it was a darkly hilarious scene.)
- "But bunk beds are cool ! (with child-like adoration) A bed. With a ladder !"
- Noting that he thought the TARDIS exploded because he forgot to close the bath water tap.
- When Clara starts the tortured metaphore about time being made of stuff like jam is made of strawberries, he says something to the effect of "Well, of course time is also made of stuff - but not of strawberries. That would be unacceptable !".

"Reverse the jelly baby of the neutron flow ! Would you like a... Doctor ?" (Kind of cheating, but it was a darkly hilarious scene.)

When was that?

"But bunk beds are cool ! (with child-like adoration) A bed. With a ladder !"

I'm a bit suspicious of the amount of child-like-ness that was actually going on when the Doctor attempted to deny Amy and Rory a double bed. This Doctor is more sexually aware than the other eleven (twelve. Whatever.) put together.

According two Wikipedia, Matthew Robert Smith was born on October 28th.

So that's two Doctor Who actors (Ian Marter being the other one) that share a birthday with me

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/62/97/c4/6297c4fb2e05f36f264800c2eed7c697.jpg

Bless!

(But...only ELEVEN Doctors? They're a bit behind the times, aren't they?)

"Eccleston was a tiger and Tennant was, well, Tigger. Smith [is] an uncoordinated housecat who pretends that he meant to do that after falling off a piece of furniture." - Lynne M. Thomas

Splendid p u s s y-cats...all of them.

So what does that make Capaldi?

By the way, I spotted Matt Smith in the newest Terminator, playing Skynet. He was great.

Oh, how the mighty are fallen...

Well, this franchise does involve time travel. So Matt is not that far from home.

It's nice to see Matt following in the Ecc's footsteps by making lots of risible Hollywood schlock that everyone will have forgotten he was in five minutes later. (And for the same directors too, as 'Genisys's* director also did 'Thor: The Dark World'**).

* Nope, John Peel stills look dyslexic.

** Plus some other better films, and episodes of 'Game of Thrones', so let's cut him some slack.

Somehow I missed this episode...

https://youtu.be/hCnZZ-_s1jQ

While I've never seen this before--I don't think I've missed a thing.

(Smeg that was bad!!!)

Happy Birthday to Matt Smith.

Yep, I share a birthday with a Doctor too.

Well, Happy Birthday Tim.

It's nice to see Matt following in the Ecc's footsteps by making lots of risible Hollywood schlock that everyone will have forgotten he was in five minutes later. (And for the same directors too, as 'Genisys's* director also did 'Thor: The Dark World'**).

And with 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' dead on arrival, Smith continues to cement his reputation as Hollywood's New Christopher Eccleston. (Though admittedly he's more of an "impish presence at the edge of the latest celluloid disaster" than the Ecc tended to be.)

Also, seriously, with a title like that any film would struggle not to seem disappointing compared to what the expectant moviegoer is imagining.

When WILL people learn NOT TO BETRAY AND ABANDON WHO?

And with 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies' dead on arrival, Smith continues to cement his reputation as Hollywood's New Christopher Eccleston. (Though admittedly he's more of an "impish presence at the edge of the latest celluloid disaster" than the Ecc tended to be.)

Ouch!!

Still, as you said Kate, it seems he only has a minor supporting role here, so it shouldn't damage his career too much.


When WILL people learn NOT TO BETRAY AND ABANDON WHO?

Matt Smith can only play the Doctor for the rest of his life? He's not allowed to play any other character?

The man has to make a living, Emily!

Matt Smith can only play the Doctor for the rest of his life? He's not allowed to play any other character?

Well, YEAH. Once you've been the Doctor, to prostitute yourself in lesser roles is OBVIOUSLY WRONG.

Though Colin Baker and John Hurt can do what they like, frankly, as long as they're available whenever Big Finish want them which, to their credit, they are.

The man has to make a living, Emily!

Nonsense. Ex-Doctors should be cryogenically frozen and only wheeled out for anniversary multi-Doctor stories.

Ex-Doctors should be cryogenically frozen and only wheeled out for anniversary multi-Doctor stories.

This would be one solution to the Pertwee/Troughton Hair Problem.

WHAT Pertwee/Troughton Hair Problem?

The Mirror has run a spurious 'MATT SMITH TO RETURN!!!!!' story...

Well, it's delightful that he BITTERLY REGRETS LEAVING, as well he should.

Quite how the Mirror gets from that to claiming Moffat's gonna recast him even though the Mirror knows Moffat's leaving is another matter, of course.

Heck, even the headline is inaccurate - Tom 'Curator' Baker was the first - no, wait, it was David 'Mark I/II' Tennant...um, well, anyway, it's not gonna be Matt.

They must mean another multi Doc story. They can't seriously mean they're going to recast Matt that'll gut the show. Don't saddle the new show runner with this as well after running it into the ground Moff!

Having a popular and successful Doctor back as #13 would hardly gut the show, though obviously there are three on MY list of COME BACK TO ME YOU *******! ex-Docs I'd cast before Matt.

But don't worry, it's just the usual tabloid nonsense.

Well, Tennant still exists as an alternative Doctor (without regeneration) with Rose (and for the record, there is already a female doctor-- people keep forgetting about Ms. Donna Noble ). . . if somehow a previous Doctor could return (maybe it can be explained with Capaldi's memory being wiped to a degree that he regenerates to the Doctor before Clara) . . .

they've toyed with retrogeneration in fanfic... a famous one had Davo retrogenerate into Tommy B.

My idea for bringing back Smith actually involves bringing him back as a villain. I figure, the version of the Doctor that went through the crack to seal it in "The Big Bang" is still trapped in the void on the other side. The Doctor that we've seen since then is a copy loosely extrapolated from Amy's memories. What if the original pre-"Big Bang" Doctor came back and had been driven villainously insane by being trapped in the void for so long, kinda like Omega. (Good news: Since this is a Doctor who is also at the end of his regenerations, it means that our heroes might actually stand a chance of killing him and saving the day!)

KILLING him?! It was a marvellous idea right up to the KILLING him bit!

And surely the fact Eleven regenerated proves he was The Real Thing - Amy couldn't have dreamt up CAPALDI?

"I feel like I've been running my whole life." The Smith Doctor says. And the truth is, he's running down. In 'The Snowmen' he's just about done - exhausted, depressed, all he does is sit in his Tardis. In "Time of the Doctor" he's so emotionally battered he's carrying around a Cyberman head as a companion, and sits around Trenzalore for centuries, waiting things out.

To be fair, he keeps REALLY busy on Trenzalore, what with all those invasions.

And Handles is TOTALLY ADORABLE.

I also share birthday with Matthew Robert Smith.

Happy 34th Birthday, Matt.

Well, a very happy birthday to you Tim.

Began The Crown with Matt Smith as Prince Philip.
Upon starting this series discovered that Prince Philip’s father-in-law George VI is played by Jared Harris.
Unlike Matt Smith as the Doctor, what is probably not talked about that much often is that Harris had played a significant character in another iconic sci fi title that of the Lost In Space movie in which he played the grown up Will Robinson.
So The Crown has made Will Robinson the father-in-law of the Eleventh Doctor!

In The Crown, I'm more worried about how, even though years pass, Charles and Anne Windsor remain young children.

It's like how in Schindler's List, young Danka Dresner never ages between 1939 and 1945.

Moffat in DWM: 'I hope people will realise how much of a performance it has been from Matt. He's not like the Doctor in real life. He's actually a cool young guy, rather than an asexual twittering nutcase' - um, well, NO actually, I assumed for some reason that Matt had to do less of this 'acting' stuff than any Doctor since Tom. Also, since when has Eleven been asexual? He's the most sexual of the whole bunch, at least until Capaldi had his (mercifully off-screen) twenty-four-year orgy.

Also, BOW TIES ARE COOL!!! How can Moffat not REALISE this?! The Doctor says so ALL THE TIME!

Happy 35th birthday to fellow October 28th born Matt Smith.

As for me, I'm now 51.

Happy 35th birthday to fellow October 28th born Matt Smith.

Thirty-five! Our baby Doctor is growing up! Will he look in a fit state to return for our glorious sixtith anniversary...?

As for me, I'm now 51.

•••• that's REALLY OLD, my condolences.

Happy birthday Tim, and no Emily, 51 is not old.

I share my birthday with Anthony Perkins (April 4)

Thanks, Francois

An article on The Crown season 2 including Matt Smith’s portrayal of Prince Philip (kind of spoilery):
https://www.msn.com/en-au/entertainment/entertainmenttv/the-crown-to-claim-duke-of-edinburgh-felt-outranked-by-eight-year-old-charles/ar-AAux3MH?ocid=spartandhp

Netflix will release The Crown season 2 on December 8 2017.

What does he want, SYMPATHY?

If only Matt had just STAYED ON WHO, no one in the universe would have outranked our Lonely God...

Like Mrs Mandela, Eleven loves his football! (The Lodger)

This whole Matt Smith being paid more than the female lead for The Crown has been presented as a sex inequality when it is is really the same principle as Marlon Brando getting paid more than Christopher Reeve for Superman. The bigger "name" gets paid more. Equal pay for something that clearly not equal is communism.

This whole Matt Smith being paid more than the female lead for The Crown has been presented as a sex inequality

•••• right it is.

OF COURSE an ex-Doctor is in an excellent position to demand bucket-loads of cash to degrade himself in a Lesser Programme* but it's a blindingly obvious fact that the bloody Queen ought to be paid a BIT more than her consort.

And I doubt you find many programmes where the female sidekick, however famous she is, gets more money than the male lead.

You can usually find some sort of wriggle-room when it comes to pretending there's no such thing as sexism no sirree, but THIS is the moment in history where we should all stop bending over backwards to give misogyny the benefit of the doubt and start publicly shaming the scum who thought they could get away with this in the twenty-first century and if that results in the very very occasional over-generosity-to-female-Wimbledon-finalists-who-AREN'T-equal-to-the-male-ones then hell, I can live with that.

*Um, perhaps I should rephrase: OF COURSE an ex-New-Who-Doctor is in an excellent position to demand bucket-loads of cash to degrade himself in a Lesser Programme...

Going back some years I believe I'm correct in recalling that Elke Sommer was the highest paid participant in a Carry On film when she co-starred in Carry On Behind. Even when the regular gang were pulling in audiences and profits year after year the market for an international name (and not even a huge one) demanded that she should have a higher fee.

That's an awfully long time to have to go back to possibly find one single example of an actress getting fair pay...

I counted on the Doctor Who wiki's page: Category:Spouses of the Doctor | Tardis | FANDOM powered by Wikia. And I found six people while Henry the Eighth actually had Six wives but that's our timeline's Henry while in Doctor Who, Amy also once married Henry.
So as a final tally

Doctor:
cleopatra
Elisabeth 1
Marylin Munroe
PAtience
Scarlette
River Song

Henry:
Catherine
Anne
Jane
Anne 2
Catherine 2
Catherine 3
Amy Pond

There's no indication that the Doctor married Cleopatra, is there? Just because he shagged her? I mean, there's no suggestion he married Pope Benedict IX or the President's wife or I M Foreman either...

Are we quite sure that Patience is Susan's granny or could he have had two Gallifreyan wives?

There's no way the Amy/Henry VIII marriage is legal since Amy was already married.

There's no way the Amy/Henry VIII marriage is legal since Amy was already married.

Technically no, since her marriage with Rory happens well after Henry's time. And anyway, do you think something that trivial would in any way matter to Henry the Eighth?

her marriage with Rory happens well after Henry's time

Her BIRTH happens well after Henry's time.

I know child marriages were legal but I'm pretty sure you actually had to be born first.

do you think something that trivial would in any way matter to Henry the Eighth?

Well, not at the time, but EVENTUALLY - in a few months once he'd tired of her - it would weigh on his tender conscience, and he'd discover it invalidated his entire marriage and he was free to wed another, oh and of course she'd get executed for adultery anyway cos, you know, she was getting on his nerves.

Oh, and then there was the issue of consanguinity: Amy was, after all, the mother-in-law of Henry VIII's son-in-law.

Amy married Henry VIII. My memory must be starting to go, because I don't remember that.

It was rather blink-and-you-miss-it.

Power of Three:

AMY: It wasn't my fault.
RORY: It was totally your fault!
AMY: Somebody was talking, and I just said yes.
RORY: To wedding vows! You just married Henry VIII. On our anniversary!

A Gallifrey Baser on finding out Smith is playing murderous cult Charles Manson:
"Aside from the ability to give rambling incomprehensible speeches that last forever what has he got in common with Manson?"

Charles Manson should NEVER have a movie made after him. His name should never be spoken of again. He should be burried in an anonymous grave and forgotten for all time. Better yet, his corpse should be left in the open for scavengers to dispose of, that way he would at least do ONE useful thing with his pathethic worthless life.

Movies have already been made about him. An opera too.

All my life, that man gave me nightmares. Once he died, they stopped because whenever he appears, I know he's dead and that gives me the power to know it's just a dream and I can just wake myself up or change the dream.

Never has a death been so liberating.

Matt Smith as Charles Manson!?

Can he BE any more miscast!?

Blimey, I really had no idea how deep Manson had stuck his claws into the human psyche.

Even though Who's best-ever novel Dead Romance TOLD me so.

Still can't see Matt Smith doing Charles Manson.

Smith-as-Manson: "Good to see you used a Jammie Dodger to spell PIG. Come along, Pond!"

Still can't see Matt playing Manson.

Besides, why give Manson another movie. Let the guy burn in Hell, where he rightfully belongs.

Happy Birthday to fellow October 28th born Matthew Robert Smith, who is 36 years old today.

As for me, I turn 52.

A very happy birthday Tim.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7e/ca/a7/7ecaa7341f8bc9711691743e4fddffbe.jpg

Yeah, my deepest commiserations, sorry, congratulations, Tim. It's a pity your consolation prize delightful birthday treat has so many spiders in it but you've just gotta look back on The Sixteen Long And Barren Years Of Despair to realise how lucky we are...even if we were so much younger and more...flexible...in those days...

I think I might be a little late but--HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM--may you have many happy returns.

By the way Emily--there are an awfully lot of ways to take that last line of yours.

I think I'd better shut up now.

Thanks for the birthday wishes

I should clarify for the benefit of Jep that I was referring to my dislocated hips. And sadly not to any Captain-Jack-like flexibility in...dancing.

Maybe--but I think my thoughts were more fun.

*Wistful sigh*

first glimpse of Eleven as Charles Manson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGBFm1UUJd0

Dear Matt Smith,

Whatever got you to play Charles Manson, was not worth it.

All you had to do. when offered the script, was remember what Susan Atkins said to Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant and begging for the life of her baby: "Look, b*tch, you might as well face it right now, you're going to die, and I don't feel a thing behind it."

Matt, you could have said "no".

Hitler and Stalin killed far more people than Manson and his lot did. Should they be off limits to actors too?

Like Charles Manson himself, Susan Atkins died in prison. The rest of Manson's lot remain incarcerated and will most likely remain so until they themselves die.

Justice was served.

If Sharon Tate and the other victims still exist somewhere, I don't see them having an issue with Matt playing the part. They will be happy to have seen justice done.

He's an actor. It's his job. Just because it's a horrible person from the pages of history shouldn't negate an actor playing him.

The Matt Smith Charles Manson movie has invented from wholecloth a scene where Sharon meets him. Sharon Tate never met Charles Manson. I guess the next step will be giving Anne Frank a zany best friend to perk up the Secret Annexe.

I just finished watching Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension and I was amazed at how much Buckaroo's outfit looked like the 11th Doctor's outfit, right down to the bowtie. (Heck, for part of the movie he even wears a pair of glasses.)

Guess whoever picked out the 11th Doctor's outfit was a Buckeroo fan.

Happy 37th Birthday to Matt Smith!

And I'm 53 today.

KAM is right-- go to Google and key in 'images of Buckaroo Banzai' and you'll see what he means. Not a tweed jacket, but you have to look closer to see it's actually not Matt Smith.

I was just writing a fic for my "Eleven travels with the seven year old Amelia" and, taking inspiration from the Captain Jack banana/gun switch, I have Eleven give some addicts a bag of salt instead of meth. When they come for revenge... Eleven realizes just how irresponsible it is to travel with a child.

Saw The Crown episode Moondust and it is about the Moon landing.

Doctor Who touched upon that event in The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon with Matt Smith as the Doctor.

Smith incidentally played Prince Philip in the first two seasons of The Crown but narrowly missed revisiting the Moon landing as Moondust is a season 3 episode.

Moondust has Prince Philip, now played by Tobias Menzies, taking an interest in that very event.

It would have been interesting had Smith been able to revisit the Moon landing, albeit as Prince Philip.

A 2009 article cited the casting of Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor as an example about age discrimination:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/230440287?searchTerm=david+tennant&searchLimits=sortby%3DdateDesc&fbclid=IwAR2aDLlTu3i83zMTIXg50oLBo04-H_8tEAZUMYVbTOlvE3pSQ9sj_NHCW2I

Incidentally the article was published on April 3 2009, exactly a year before his full Eleventh Doctor debut The Eleventh Hour.

July 15 2020 marks ten years since the release of the movie Womb with Matt Smith and Eva Green:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urdkXkUJhcY

The Doctor and a Bond girl.

Also featuring Lesley Manville as Matt Smith's mother.

She later played William Hartnell's wife Heather in An Adventure In Space and Time which also had a cameo by Smith.

11's portrait:
https://imgur.com/a/oj8BcAn

Happy Birthday to fellow October 28th born Matt Smith, who is turning 38.

It's 54 for me.

Still ridiculously young. (Matt not you, obviously. Er...I mean, happy birthday!) He'll look fit to reappear for our Sixtieth, hopefully...no need for excuses about shorting out time differentials...

OK, it turns out 54 is when we lose our passion for life...

(Personally, I lost my passion for life when I was about twenty-two but luckily not my passion for Who which is what matters a lot more than mere LIFE...)

I lost my passion for life when I was about twenty-two but luckily not my passion for Who

Until Colin came along...

Oh, I dived for the off-switch with a LOT of passion...

When the Sixtieth rolls around, Matt will be 41.

Young enough.

Matt Smith in Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon:
www.syfy.com/syfywire/house-of-the-dragon-matt-smith-olivia-cooke-emma-darcy?utm_campaign=9yearoldboysearchingwalnut&__source=Blastr_Vayner_syfy_Facebook&utm_source=facebook&utm_term=organic&utm_content=link_ad&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR285RODRHXjkfZL0VZnFA-WzkYi6k_AECsSxsNKkYqUj8DMxVMiBLj6kKE

The Raggedy Doctor:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pcV-Tck-ls

MATT SMITH is playing a Targaryen prince?! I mean, he is (obviously!) the perfect Eleventh Doctor but his is not exactly the first face that springs to mind when you're talking about unearthly blond beauty...

Wait..... Did our esteemed moderator just confess to watching..... A "LESSER PROGRAMME"?!?!?!

*Embarrassed cough*

I admit nothing.

I was quoting the BOOKS.

J’accuse!! Caught out like a number11 batsman!

Like a WHAT?

(Alright! Alright! Guilty as charged! Those are my favourite books and I was curious and I CHEATED on Who with a Lesser Programme!)

So, was it worth it?

Yeah, was it?

Yeah, it had its moments and maybe a bit of cheating will teach the Doctor not to WALK OUT ON ME for sixteen years....

But the show didn’t start until 2010.... that’s 5 years after it came back....

You think I don't bear GRUDGES?

The Doctor didn't so much as walk out. More like the Doctor was exiled.

The Doctor should not have PERMITTED herself to be defeated by MICHAEL GRADE.

Matt Smith on being asked about burning a fez:
https://imgur.com/a/gNEyDII

Adorable.

Matt Smith at a readthrough for House of Dragons where he plays Prince Daemon Targaryen:
https://imgur.com/a/VmFvqES

The Eleventh Doctor Story | A Tribute:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTGe40gXn-Q

First Look of Matt Smith as Prince Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon:
https://imgur.com/a/OtREgw8

Matt Smith has sadly lost his father David who passed away earlier this month:
https://popculture.com/celebrity/news/matt-smiths-dad-david-dead-73/?fbclid=IwAR2lGruD0CGAXYgq3PkUPj_LGgIli3WF2gP33kvLoEBzlWWRZ2DfKfc_W4o

Incidentally David Smith can be seen in Doctor Who Confidential when Matt was announced as the Eleventh Doctor.

DWM: Fake-Eleventh-Doctor Jake Dudman: 'In Series 5, Matt Smith had a sort of youthful energy about him...And then, as his character evolved to a more grandfatherly figure, he became more professor-y, and he developed this more authoritative, almost condescending nasal tone...he also hunched over more, and he started rubbing his hands together and doing all the "mad professor" stuff' - obviously I never noticed but I'm sure he's right...

Steven Moffat on Matt Smith's last day:
https://imgur.com/a/JSdXor3

Why have a fake Eleventh Doctor when we have the real thing?

Happy Birthday to fellow October 28th born Matt Smith, who turns 39.

As for me, it's 55.

Gods, we're all getting SO SO OLD.

Even our CHILD-DOCTOR is practically middle-aged...

Er, I mean, happy birthday Tim!

https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/matt-smith-doctor-who.html

I'm betting Big Finish, but you never know.

'It’s been almost a decade'

I've never heard so much nonsense in my LIFE!

'Well, you never know, do you?'

THAT is not teasing a return to Who.

That is, in fact, a staggering level of disinterest in doing so much as a single audio, which given that ECCLESTRAITOR has come crawling to Big Finish...

I've never heard so much nonsense in my LIFE!

Not least because it's been less than 8 years.

Saw the movie Last Night in Soho (2021) with Matt Smith.

It also features two co-stars during his time as the Doctor that of Elizabeth Berrington (The Doctor's Wife) and Diana Rigg (The Crimson Horror).

This was Rigg's last film before her death in 2020 and it is dedicated to her memory.

University of East Anglia making good use of the fact that a Time Lord (Matt Smith) is an alum of theirs:
https://imgur.com/a/9vDEzmy

Awwww!

(Actually...IS Matt Smith one Time Lord? Or one-fourteenth of a Time Lord...? Actually given the Timeless Children, VERY wise to sidestep that whole issue...)

A Happy 40th Birthday to Matthew Robert Smith

As for me, I'm now 56.

We are all getting so old.

Even our Baby-Doctor is all grown up!

Pretty soon we're all going to look like that group of beloved senior citizens that have a meeting in 'Power of the Doctor'!

41 years ago, October 28th, 1982, Matthew Robert Smith, was born.

Happy Birthday, Matt.


57 years ago, October 28th, 1966, Yours Truly was born.

Happy birthday Tim. Enjoy the cake.

Pah! Tim needs no cake OR gifts! He can just spend his birthday REVELLING in the glorious knowledge than IN LESS THAN A MONTH he will be relishing the sight of TennantDoc and Donna and Wilf and Sylvia, together again at last, courtesy of Russell T God Himself!

Yeah, that, and cake.

He'd CHOKE on his cake if he was trying to eat it whilst ruminating on The Glorious Return.

Glorious return of what?

*Me stepping out of the line of fire*

*Boldly strides past Francois's cowering body*

Take a wild guess, Tim.

Pumpkin spice cat food?

Gloirous return? Has Blake's 7 finally been greenlit for a fifth season?

Matt Smith's First Day On Set:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dobxbndOqd8&fbclid=IwAR15kShY9O1Q7vcu4f1qw0J6WeUvBjl97Hk-2pNPtCSyCK_zvLes5MdmmtE