It’s official. As I mentioned in yesterday’s article “11th Doctor to Be Announced Saturday” the BBC has announced the actor to play the 11th Doctor on Doctor Who, replacing departing Doctor David Tennant.
The new Doctor will be played by Matt Smith (pictured right), who will be the youngest actor to play the part at 26 years old. Before this, the youngest person cast as the Doctor was 5th Doctor Peter Davison, who was 29 when he took on the role.
Smith is a relative unknown, only having played a few roles in his short career, but personally I think when it comes to playing the Doctor, it tends to be a great choice casting someone with talent but without a huge name.
Smith has a past Doctor Who connection by having acted opposite of Billie Piper on three occasions: in the productions of The Ruby in the Smoke, and The Shadow in the North as the character Jim Taylor (pictured left), and he also appeared in one episode of Piper’s show Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
Reactions among fans so far has been mixed, with many reacting the same way that so many fans have done over the years (including myself back in the ’80s) of “NO! YOU CAN’T CHANGE THINGS!!”, and others objecting to him being too young.
While this will be the first time there’s been a current Doctor younger than myself (David Tennant being *slightly* older than me), I don’t have a problem. I’ve only seen his appearance on the Doctor Who: Confidential, which isn’t much to base an impression on, but I trust the opinion of incoming producer Steven Moffat, who is a true fan and writer.
Moffat is absolutely raving over him, and according to his interview on the Confidential, Smith was the second person to audition for the part, and they knew he was the right one instantly.
The role of the Doctor needs a certain weight behind it and that “old man in a young man’s body” quality which I think is rather hard to find in a man in his 20s or even 30s.
But from the clips of Smith talking about taking on the role, as well as the clips of his past work, I have a good feeling about him taking on the role and can picture him as the Doctor.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see how things play out in 2010, but personally, I’m excited.
Tags: 11th Doctor Matt Smith, 11th doctor who announced, who is the new doctor, Who is the New Doctor Who, youngest doctor who
just say NO to Doctor EMO
Rogha,
Have faith in Steven Moffat and the rest of the production staff. He’s young, he’s got slightly silly hair, but I trust he’s the man for the job if they’ve hired him.
If there’s one thing I learned from the long dark years between 1989 and 2005 was to look for what to be excited about with the show, not look for what to be upset about.
Just IMO, of course. :)
i think that the new doctor is a waste of your time ND I AM FED UP OF IT CAN YOU DO SOME THING ABOUT IT PLEASE
Michael, don’t you think it’s a little soon to make a final judgment on the new Doctor? I mean, he’s had about 2 minutes of screen time so far to go on, so maybe you might want to at least wait until the first episode airs.
I don’t know how old you are, or how long you’ve been into Doctor Who, but I’ve been a fan since 1978 or 1977 (not sure which — I was very young) and I have seen a new Doctor come along SEVEN times now. Hard to believe.
The first time it happened, I was about 9 years old and they announced Peter Davison was replacing Tom Baker (my first Doctor). I *hated* Davison because it seemed like he was killing MY Doctor.
But then I saw the regeneration and I saw the new Doctor and he grew on me, and I knew that if I was able to accept the change that was part of the show and accept the new Doctor, I got to keep watching my favorite show.
As I said before, this is the seventh time I’ve been through this, and I have a *very* good feeling about Matt Smith. I think he’s going to be great.
But I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Until then, I’m withholding my final judgment, and I hope you do too.
Talk to you earlier…
I think having Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor is a great idea! And since the new Doctor has started, I think it has had a really good turn out. Matt Smith is at least as good The Doctor as David Tennant was.
Just found this old article. Ah, how far we’ve come. In my opinion, Matt Smith is one of the greatest doctors, given that he can be goofy and childish while maintaining the fact that he’s over 1000 years old. He perfects both the serious and less serious sides of the doctor, and that makes him fantastic.