With nothing but torment, the BBC1 teased people throughout the show with only the age of the new actor to play Doctor Who, as being 26. Tweeters and bloggers alike were going crazy. Some didn’t think it right that the new Doctor be younger than they are, but then, they just don’t get it then, do they?
What took me by surprise was that despite all the names that were thrown in the mix, a new one suddenly popped up as a favorite before the announcement: Matt Smith. I did my research and when it was announced, I was no longer surprised or saying what everyone else was saying: Who!?
Northampton-born actor Matt Smith has been officially announced as the new Doctor Who. Smith will appear in the iconic role starting in 2010, taking over the role from David Tennant. Smith is the 11th actor to take on the role and youngest actor ever to play the good Doctor.
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Matt Smith is 26 years old and already has quite a bit of experience under his belt. Aside from Party Animals, his television experience includes the 2006 adaptation of The Ruby in the Smoke, the follow-up, The Shadow in the North, and in ITV2’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl. His stage experience includes a West End stint opposite Christian Slater in Swimming With Sharks, and other roles in the Royal Court and National Theater.
Smith was cast over Christmas. The moment the head of drama at BBC, Piers Wenger, saw his audition, he knew he was the one.
There will be a year and four specials before we see the new Doctor, but for Smith, filming starts this summer.
Now being run by a new creative team for the 2010 season, the show will be led by executive producers Steven Moffat and Piers Wenger. This casting was paramount to anything else, which obviously included the finalizations of scripts.
Though it hasn’t been quite the wait that we’ve had to endure like in other television series when they break up the final season, it was still a much anticipated announcement that the BBC1’s show, Doctor Who Confidential was going to announce the next actor that will portray the good Doctor.
The announcement was big enough that BBC1 simulcast the show live on their outdoor screens around the country in city centre locations including Hull, Liverpool, Rotherham, Swindon, Swansea, Norwich and Walthamstow.
Here’s an image of Matt as the new Dr.:
Matt Smith as the new Dr. Who
Head over to GallifreyOne.com for more and highr-res pictures of Matt as the Dr. (and thanks to regular SR reader Ash Ali for the tip on the photo above).
The web went quite stir crazy as reporters, fans and every Doctor Who site editor emailed each other and started scurrying around to decipher this information… and then we all had to wait. Wait until the Saturday broadcast to find out who will be replacing David Tennant. Arguably one of the more popular actors to portray the quirky Doctor.
The hard part was sorting through the noise of shameless websites and tweeters announcing the new doctor, incorrectly I might add, before it was officially announced. I presume to generate traffic. It does not help a harried entertainment reporter I dare say!
And now that we know who the next Doctor Who will be, the next obvious piece to this time traveling puzzle would be who will be his assistant? Could we possibly see Billie Piper again? I only ask that because she’s worked with Matt previously. Egads, the questions never stop, but that’s what I do. Stir up the pot.
Sources: BBC News, Northampton Chronicle,
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175 Comments
I watched it too wasp. What a prick matt smith is. I will never ever watch an episode of doctor who with him in it. Ever. He has got to be the worst choise for the part in living history of film and television. I am depressed…
Alright then. Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. Thankfully the rest of the fans aren’t quite so shallow as to have a go at the guy based on his accent.
You won’t be missed.
Stormy, that’s the second time you’ve made that statement. Perhaps you are watching BBC3 too much and feel the need to endlessly repeat yourself?
Mr Smith’s inability to pronounced “th” is nothing to do with his accent, it’s to do with laziness and slovenly speech. I expect better from an actor.
Now, I’m not perfect, but when I stand in front of a room full of people to start a training course I can at least speak coherently!
As for the Doc, I can see it now…..
“…’ere, Davros, I seen them Daleks of yours brought new sink plunger fings at the store. They is well clever. I’ve took one look at it on this Dalek and he’s gone ‘Exterminate’ ‘cos he finks it’s anuvver gun, innit….”
Oh well….sigh….at least “Primeval” is absolutely brilliant at the moment!
We should all stop having a go at him and just wait for his appearance and see what he can do.
Then we can judge him,but we don’t know at the moment and im sure the producers of Doctor Who have chosen Matt because he is right for the role…they must be something about him,why the chose him and we’ve just got to wait till we see him in action.
….yeah….good luck with that…
LOL
Let me start by saying I have absolutely nothing against the young lady and no opinion about her abilities whatsoever – but the girl they’ve cast as Master Smith’s companion looks like she’s about 15 years old. She thinks Matt is “an excellent actor” and I guess with her vast experience of working with 5 or 6 different actors, she should know. But that’s a trifle unkind and beside the point.
With this casting, can there seriously be anyone who still doubts that Moffatt’s casting decisions are not influenced purely by budgetry restrictions?
Cast your mind back to 2005. Christopher Ecclestone and Billie Piper. Phenomenal casting and a wage bill to go with it. Now we are in the depth of recession and it’s a totally different story. If you were casting Doctor Who today after a 15 year absence it would be pure suicide to go with the casting choices made by Moffatt. I don’t think the man is an idiot – so it HAS to come down to money…
Still – on the bright sight, with a cast of children now in place, let’s bring back K9 and we’ve got a live action update of Scooby-Doo!
THE DOCTOR: Let’s see who the real villian is…..DAVROS, so you were the ghost all along!
DAVROS: Yes – and I’d have gotten away with it too, if it wasn’t for you meddling kids and that dog!
K9: Rooooby-Rooo!
In regards to what TheWasp is referencing:
http://screenrant.com/doctor-companion-announced-brusimm-10791/
I was holding my opinion on this next season and on Matt Smith till they cast the companion. I’m still holding my judgment, but having a really hard time doing it. They could have gone with so many different characters, even with no companion for a while! Now it really does seem that a return on investment is being considered and they are in fact rebooting the audience. With this casting it really does look like the show is steaming into “teen drama” waters with the producers/BBC having their target audience squarely in mind. Fine. Ok. I admit I watched “True Blood” and am looking forward to the next season. It’s also a mixed audience show just as much as Dr. Who is so I can’t find fault in a show that brings all age groups in and doesn’t limit itself … But… Matt Smith is my age for crying out loud and yet I feel old just looking at him!
Oh dear. I’ve had a hard time as it is convincing my friends who are not Dr. Who fans that the show isn’t just for kids. Some of the over the top episodes of last season really made it difficult, but now with this cast it might be next to impossible. Guess I’ll be biting the bullet and saying, “Ok OK! It’s a kids show! Leave me alone so I can watch it, eat some ice cream and giggle like a school girl as the Daleks plot to muss up the Dr.’s hair.” Because really, who am I kidding, I’ll still watch the danged show for at least a good number of episodes until I decide if it’s still Dr. Who or if it has been fully replaced by the rolling gears of the BBC money making machinery. And then maybe it will have hooked me again, because it’s like crack, which is probably what they are counting on anyways.
I wonder if she’ll be playing the same character as in the Fires of Pompeii?
A little perspective, folks. She’s 21, which is older than a handful of Classic Who companions.
Here, take a look at this Den of Geek article: http://www.denofgeek.com/television/260706/doctor_who_10_companions_younger_than_karen_gillan.html
Good lord – Mark Strickson was 21 when he was Turlough??? He looked older than Matt Smith does now!
Hmmmmm, maybe it’s not about age then, but about maturity and bearing. Perhaps it’s not that Matt Smith is too young, simply that he “appears” lacking in experience…..?
….I need to think about this….
I’m certainly NOT ageist. I totally LOVED the new Star Trek movie.
…so maybe if Matt Smith’s series was a total reboot… you know, if instead of regenerating from David Tennant, they took the line that here’s the very very beginning of the story… a young man graduating from the Pridonian Academy on Gallifrey finds he is disillusioned with Time Lord life and steals a Tardis. To hide his true identity he goes under the name of “The Doctor”
Sort of “Smallville” for the Dr Who universe…..
…You know what? I honestly think I could have accepted that….
I really need to sit and think this through…..
^ Nifty. That’s an interesting idea. Rebooting the entire show results in opening up a whole new realm of fresh story lines to explore. It would effectively address many of the objections and issues people have with these two casting choices. Now I’ll be even more disappointed when they don’t do that…
Doctor holyoaks….. Steven moffatt is deficating all over doctor who,, sack him before he kills it forever.
that would be interesting wouldn’t it? But it sounds too much like Star Trek the new one…
however, it sure could make a good movie…
Matt Smith isn’t really that young, he’s pushing 30; come on give the guy a chance… I doubt Moffet would pick someone that couldn’t do the job. I’m actually in awe of what Moffet can do and I think he will be simply AMAZING…. I didn’t like Rose on the first show, but she turned out to be wonderful; she really matured and turned in some great performances…
Apparently when Matt auditioned they knew the next Doctor would be him. There must be something special about Matt. I think they know who is right for WHO….
Look at the new Star Trek movie. The LOST guys (Bad Robot) picked an amazing cast, and they were all young. I’m an old fart who loved Star Trek in the sixties, and I think the new cast for Star Trek is amazing….
I hate to see Tennant go, he’s been just wonderful, but he’s gotta have a life away from the Tardis… I doubt he will be sitting in his basement with his sonic screwdriver, being depressed. I see great things from him. He is a Shakespearean actor after all. That’s why we got such good performances out of him. The Doctor is, after all, a tragic figure.
In the meantime, looking forward to Doctor Eleven!!!
“…Apparently when Matt auditioned they knew the next Doctor would be him. There must be something special about Matt…”
…Yup, that something special was the price tag! According to today’s UK papers all BBC “stars” (their word, not mine) are having their salaries cut by up to 40%
They couldn’t AFFORD someone of Tennant’s calibre anymore…
Just seen pics of matt smith as the doctor. dressed like a kid pretending to be a maths teacher. They can not even get the cloths right. And what have they done to the tardis ? it looks brand new. Like its just been taken out of its raper. The show is dead.
The producers have totally sold out with this casting choice, he’s WAY to young. It’s like they’re desperately trying to cater to the younger and more “alternative” audience, like what George Lucas tried to do when he introduced Jar Jar Binks to the Star Wars universe, and will most likely fail as hard.
All the Dr.’s had a look that commanded presence and authority. One look at this guy, and I couldn’t take him seriously, I would just want to pat him on his head and send him away.
According to Richard Curtis who has written one of the next season’s episodes, Stephen Moffat had to ask him to re-write some of the dialogue for Matt Smiff’s character. Apparently Curtis had “overwritten” his speech. It wasn’t “informal” or “modern” enough and Curtis had to add “colloquialisms”.
Now I don’t know about you, but that REALLY doesn’t encourage me! “Yo, Davros, you is lookin well wicked, innit my bredren.”
Any more proof needed that Moffatt was brought in to deliberately kill the show off to save the money? Take it away…. now…. I don’t want to see it…. Even the BBC’s own Dr Who website has virtually buried all trace of Matt Smiff. Even if Tennant breaks wind it becomes the top story, they’re so desperate to hold onto him. Although what other website HIDES its news?
It used to be the first thing you saw, now its buried under a sub menu of “Features” and its not even called “News” anymore its called “Bulletins”
Speaks volumes to me! Thank God Merlin is back!
Ohh my god. Its getting even worse than we could have ever dreamed possible. I have just seen the new logo for matt smiths 2010 attempt at doctor who. To say it looks cheep and nasty would be an understatement. what is going on ? I sometimes think this must be a bad dream im having. It seems they are not satisfied with mearly getting the cast totally and utterly wrong. but allso get the clothes wrong the props wrong and the logo wrong. I would not be suprissed if they change the theem music next. I hate everything about the 11th doctor who balls up.
oh come on. Matt will be just fine. You just have to watch a couple of episodes. Matt doesn’t look young all the time. Tennant looked a lot younger than his 37 years, and Matt looks older; he’s not gonna speak street talk, just probably Curtis probably had him talking a bit priggish, that’s all. Matt will speak like Tennant did… And if you still hate it after a few episodes, just find another show. And to the guy who likes Merlin; I like it too, but it’s not any where on the same level as Doctor Who…
…nor is Matt Smith’s version of the Doctor!!!
website apparently changed or something….its now http://www.gallifreyone.com/
I think they should have done a year with a bunch of guest doctors. They could have introduced a plot device that made him keep regenerating. I bet they could have got huge names for not much money because of all the actors who would have loved to give it a shot. Wouldn’t you like to see a Michael Caine episode? (a sinister doctor revealing some secret, perhaps) How about Joanna Lumley, and a couple of other women to make things interesting? Hell, the doctor’s got some juice, so who knows who they could attract for little or no money. Sean Connery? Not out of the question, and his one episode would be more memorable than every one this dude is going to be in. I think Alexi Sayle could still give it a one-episode shot. Just one season, and then they could get back to someone more permanent.
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