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Actor Matt Smith Will Be 11th Doctor Who
Posted by
kdawson
on Sat Jan 03, 2009 06:14 PM
from the inheritor-of-the-scarf dept.
from the inheritor-of-the-scarf dept.
Jerry Smith was among a large number of readers letting us know that the 11th Doctor Who has been named. It's Matt Smith, 26, who will be the youngest actor to play the time-traveling Doctor. The head of drama at BBC Wales said this about Smith's audition: "It was abundantly clear that he had that 'Doctor-ness' about him. You are either the Doctor or you are not."
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Waiting (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Waiting (Score:4, Funny)
I've already seen these episodes.
Given the challenges he faced, I thought that Matt did a good job.
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Re:Waiting (Score:4, Insightful)
Be honest... Doctor Who has been moving towards being a lame version of Buffy the vampire slayer. This is just one more step: Doctor Who The Teenage Years (yeah he's 26... so are most "teen" US TV actors).
Boston Legal had it right - no-one over the age of 50 is allowed on TV these days. The Doctor Who writers haven't got a fucking clue... just like every other TV hack, they assume that children will only watch other children or young adults.
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Insightful)
You've got a point, having such a young Doctor will throw a new light on the Doctor-companion dynamic - Matt's younger than Freema Agyeman (Martha), and is the same age as Billie Piper (Rose), although he will be starting the show 5 years after she did. The relationship always had a "fatherly" element that stopped it going too far and getting in the way of the show.
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Insightful)
"The relationship always had a "fatherly" element that stopped it going too far and getting in the way of the show."
Getting in the way of the show ? Have you actually bothered to LOOK at Rose ? IMO the show is getting in the way of the porn.
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Re:Waiting (Score:4, Interesting)
Then there is the dynamic of a guy that looks to be in is mid 20's playing a character that has live over 900 years.
When 900 years old you reach, look as good you will not.
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Re:Waiting (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't mind the increaing youth of the Doctor so much as the increasing sexualisation. David Tennant was good. Christopher Eccleston is a very good actor and played the part very well, though the character wasn't that charismatic (deliberately on his part, I think). But what we've seen starting with Eccleston and much increasing with Tennant, is increasing sexual tension on the part of the doctor and his increasingly sexually interested companions. That undermines the alienness of the Doctor and I'd like to see things return to a slightly more aesexual footing. (Not that I couldn't watch Freeman Agyeman all day long). The most important thing to me though is that a regeneration results in a different character. That was always one of the most interesting aspects of the regeneration - not the physical change, but that the doctor seemed to actually recreate himself quite radically sometimes. That was a bit lost with the Eccleston - Tennant transition. They were both very similar. What I'd really like to see with Matt Smith is him come across as a genuinely new person. Still intelligent, still resolutely pacifist, but with his own set of mannerisms, relationships with people (it would be interesting to see him relate to former companions as if he were meeting them for the first time in some ways). I will wait and see. I'll certainly want to see the new episodes to judge for myself.
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Re:Waiting (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd agree, but remember it's not just David Tennant leaving the show but Russel T Davis, the creative force behind much of the remake.
You're best off looking not just at the general trend of the episodes, but who wrote them. Most of the schmultzy luvvy duvvy episodes that I (and most others here I'd wager) aren't fond of were written by Russel.
Steven Moffat is taking over Russels position as the shows head writer, and I reckon that his episodes are some of my favourite.
28 year old actor playing the part? Hmm, will reserve judgement on that one until 2010.
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Insightful)
Actor and age when they started Doctor Who:
William Hartnell - 56
Patrick Troughton - 46
Jon Pertwee - 51 (He will always be Worzel Gummidge to me)
Tom Baker - 40
Peter Davidson - 29
Colin Baker - 40
Sylvester McCoy - 44
Paul McGann - 37
Christopher Eccleston - 41
David Tennant - 34
Matt Smith - 27 (when he starts playing the part in 2010 not now)
So only 2 of the Doctors were over 50 when he started. Yeah it is some ageist conspiracy alright. The BBC have cast 2 people under 40 in a row as the Doctor! OMGWTFBBQ! I think people's nostalgia tinted glasses are getting the better of them. You need to take them off and get over yourself. The doctor's age has clearly fluctuated a lot over the years. But Davidson to McCoy really ruins the age downward trend conspiracy. Seeing as Matt Smith is only 2 year shy of Peter Davidson's age I fail to see the problem really. Plus I'm 32 and the guy looks older than me.
I'm not gonna be a precious fanboy and will wait to see how his Doctor turns out. Like Tennant if he is good then he is good. And by the way anyone considering they have cast a pretty boy might want to take a look at the guy. My mom said politely when she said his face has "character". Me I think he looks like the guy in the film "Mask".
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Informative)
Nonetheless, there is an overall trend to younger doctors. Correlation of age with order of appearance: r=-0.7, with each doctor an average of 2 years younger than the last. (p-value: 0.01)
Without Matt Smith, that goes down to r=-0.6, and 1.7 years younger. (p-value: 0.04)
Thanks for the data!
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Interesting)
Retchdog again.
The trend is pretty obvious if you just plot the data. I took the opportunity to learn a little bit of google's painful chart API (no criticism please; I see how it could be prettier and I don't care):
Age of The Doctor, per incarnation. [google.com]
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Interesting)
Peter Davidson said he thought he was too young to play the Doctor.
But he turned out to be pretty good. Then again, he played it fatherly, despite having two hot young things riding on his tardis. (er. great, I just made Dr Who innuendo.) But that was the early 80s.
And the guy who came after him, despite being "old enough" wasn't nearly "good enough".
Whatever. Still mad at Tennant for leaving. Not as much as I am at Eccleston though.
WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF DOCTORS, PEOPLE.
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Re:Waiting (Score:4, Funny)
WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF DOCTORS, PEOPLE.
However, that would be a good opportunity to reboot the series, so we could finally get rid of those damn 60's props and update the Daleks. *ducks*
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Re:Waiting (Score:4, Funny)
By lower, you mean actually allowed to look like a human being you'd want to date, rather than a giant set of ultra-white teeth jammed in a tanned manequinn?
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Interesting)
I like how the Doctor's been getting younger and younger
One bit of Time Lord psychology that isn't so different from human. When he was young, he wanted to appear old and wise, now he's old, he wants to appear young for as long as possible.
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Interesting)
In our own time, things are not so sensible (which I really don't understand since you're appealing to a predominately male geek audience, not the popular model type kids).
That may be true in the U.S., where it's airing on the Sci-Fi channel. In Britain, you're appealing to damn near everybody. The current Doctor Who series has some of the highest ratings of any drama on television, both in terms of sheer numbers and overall approval ratings. The age range of the audience is quite broad, and though it probably skews more toward males, women watch it also.
Really this choice has everything to do with Steven Moffatt, the new head writer of the show, and what he wants to do with the character. Russell T. Davies, the man responsible for launching the new Who, has said that he had absolutely nothing to do with the casting. Perhaps the larger story arcs Moffatt wants to tell call for a younger Doctor.
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Insightful)
Perhaps increased budgets and high popularity, plus all the improvements in special effects since, say Tom Baker, mean it's more possible to do more stories where lots of physical movement, agility, and sheer conditioning play a part. A young Doctor is a Doctor who can run. Remember Tennant (as the Doctor) describing the job? "Well.. and running, lots and lots of running.".
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably very true. Remember how much of the old Who episodes took place inside the TARDIS control center? A bunch of characters standing around a room with the walls painted white, pondering the "readings" from "the scanner." That stuff has been all but nixed in the new show. And where would the old show cut to after a nice, long scene inside the TARDIS? Probably to the bridge of a starship, where a man sitting in a chair would have an argument with a standing man about orders from "the Company." Or maybe to the drawing-room of an English mansion, where a sinister-looking man in period dress would have a conversation with another man, who would then leave via the door. Or maybe to a long shot of a quarry, where a man in a nylon jumpsuit holding some kind of gizmo would stagger for a while, before succumbing to an unseen foe. The new show is far, far less static than the original, in general -- and though it jarred me at first, in hindsight I have to say that's a very good thing.
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Stephen Moffat (Score:4, Informative)
Good point.
There was a special episode of "Dr Who Confidential" last night, just to announce the new Doctor, and it had interviews with RTD, Stephen Moffat and Matt Smith.
Stephen Moffat said that he started auditions determined to cast an older Doctor this time, but that it soon became overwhelmingly apparent that Matt Smith was the one for the role. Something about being able to handle the dramatic bits and the quirky mercurial aspects, and being able to switch between them fairly easily.
They had a couple of clips from Smith's earlier roles; not much to judge by, but I think I can see what he's getting at.
It's going to be interesting to see how he handles the role
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Insightful)
I think not only the quality casting leads to the shows great popularity, but that they actually have decent story arcs. There are some howlers, but there are also some great moments. In "The Last of the Time Lords" where Martha Jones returns to confront the Master, the Doctor derisively asks the Master if he really thought that the Doctor would have asked her to bring a gun. The contempt in the word veritiably drips off Tennant's tongue and you know, exactly, that this wouldn't be in character for the Doctor's beliefs and he finds his own solution based on people's hope (and cleverness). So many programs and films today have no greater sophistication in their heroes than the ability to get back up after being shot and throw one last heroic punch. The Doctor is a character who wins without the cheating power of plot (mostly) but rather through staying a few steps ahead of his adversaries. That's why two of his best enemies are the Daleks (unreasoning military force, creating the tension between intellect and violence) and the Master (the clash of two equally powerful intellects).
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Funny)
At this rate, the 12th Doctor will be sperm.
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Re:Waiting (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Waiting (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Waiting (Score:4, Funny)
Welcome to "Gallifrey 90210"
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Matt Smith (Score:3, Insightful)
Who?
Re:Matt Smith (Score:5, Funny)
No, just The Doctor
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Hmmm getting close to the 12 regenerations limit (Score:4, Interesting)
Seems like they have been burning through regenerations in the latter Dr. Who series. What are they gonna do when they hit twelve? No more Dr. Who?
Re:Hmmm getting close to the 12 regenerations limi (Score:4, Funny)
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Re:Hmmm getting close to the 12 regenerations limi (Score:5, Interesting)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regeneration_(Doctor_Who)#In_the_series [wikipedia.org]
The BBC's Series 4 FAQ suggests that now the Time Lord social order has been destroyed, the Doctor may be able to circumvent the limit on regenerations; it says: "Now that his people are gone, who knows? Time Lords used to have 13 lives.
In "The Sound of Drums" (2007) the Master is revealed to have been granted a new body by the Time Lords during the Time War with at least one new regeneration. Non-Gallifreyans are also seen to regenerate in Underworld (1978) and Mawdryn Undead (1983), but with adverse side effects.
Sounds to me like regeneration is a socially-imposed limit to keep them from living forever. ;)
But they aren't immortal... found this interesting tidbit:
In The Mind of Evil the Master points a conventional firearm at the Doctor and threatens to "put a bullet through both your hearts", while in "Forest of the Dead", Professor Song warns that an impending electrocution would stop both the Time Lord's hearts, killing him. From these, it is apparent that a Time Lord can die if both his hearts stop.
This quote also further supports it:
The TARDIS appears to assist in the regenerative process. In addition to the second Doctor's explicit statement to this effect shortly after regenerating from the first, regenerating outside the TARDIS has never been shown to go particularly well. Of the four occasions on which this has happened, one is forced on him by the Time Lords (The War Games), one requires a Time Lord to give the Doctor's cells a "little push" to start the process (Planet of the Spiders), one needs the TARDIS's "Zero Room", a chamber sealed from all outside forces, to help him recover (Castrovalva) and the last occurs a few hours after he has actually "died" (The 1996 television movie). That last regeneration remains the only one that takes place significantly far away from the TARDIS, without any obvious interaction from other Time Lords, though it may be noted that in The Doctor's Daughter, Jenny - a woman created from the Tenth Doctor's DNA - dies and later reanimates in a process that has some apparent similarities to a regeneration, some time after the TARDIS leaves her planet.
All these + more indicate that the limit may not be a physical one.
Another:
In "Last of the Time Lords", the Master and the Doctor demonstrate that regeneration is not an automatic process (or the process is automatic but the Time Lord undergoing it can halt the regeneration at will) as, despite the Doctor's pleas for him to regenerate, the Master instead chooses to die after being shot by Lucy Saxon
It's quite possible that it's a socially imposed limit - that is, multiple timelords can collectively decide whether you get to regenerate or not.
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Re:Hmmm getting close to the 12 regenerations limi (Score:5, Interesting)
Twelve regenerations was never a biological limit; it was something imposed by the Gallifreyan leadership. ISTR that once they offered the Master an extra set of regenerations, in exchange for doing some of their dirty work. Now that the other Time Lords have been exterminated, who's to say there can't be a Fourteenth Doctor?
As for the regeneration rate, the Ninth was short-lived, but the Tenth has had a good long innings. He first appeared in 2005 in the final episode of the first new series, and is scheduled to regenerate in early 2010. So... four or five years. That's quite long for a Doctor. The First did three years, so did the Second and the Fifth. The Third did four, the Sixth two, the Seventh two (well, nine, but he was off the air for most of that), the Eighth and Ninth one each (again, the Eighth technically nine years, same objection).
It's only really Tom Baker who's outdone Tennant in terms of years in the TARDIS. And since he has an enormous TV fanbase from Blackpool, Casanova and Doctor Who, and has lately proved himself to considerable acclaim on the legitimate stage as Hamlet, I imagine he thinks it's about time to move on to some extremely lucrative roles.
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Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:12 Regenerations? (Score:5, Informative)
The Master was given an extra set of regenerations by the Time Lords for... something. The Sisterhood of Karn had the secret to true immortality, but the Time Lords rejected it because they realised that immortality lead to a static society. Without the Time Lord rules against it being enforced, there's nothing stopping The Doctor from regenerating more than 12 times. There is a lot of evidence in the series that the limit of 12 was artificial - to encourage Time Lords to savour their lives and then move on to make way for a new generations.
Allowing infinite regenerations could easily be done without breaking continuity, but it would destroy the show by making the Doctor's death totally meaningless. There are lots of ways of extending the number of regenerations too. It is implied several times that regeneration is something that only happens to Time Lords who are joined with time capsules. The TARDIS is presumably not connected to the Eye of Harmony (the black hole contained on Galifrey) anymore, so the amount of energy it can provide for regeneration might be more or less than normal.
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Deus Ex Machina (Score:3, Funny)
> here are lots of ways of extending the number of regenerations too ... implied ... regeneration ... Time Lords who are joined with time capsules ... connected to the Eye of Harmony ... the black hole ... so the amount of energy
Here's an idea. We have a special-combo episode where the TARDIS meets The Enterprise whose crew beam aboard with Chief Scientific Officer Deus Ex Machina who adlibs technobabble, not just giving the doctor as many regens as the BBC needs but tying up all the plot holes since th
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Not to mention the little fact that Gallifrey is no more. Who knows what changes the Time Wars(tm) unleashed.
interesting choice (Score:3, Interesting)
I hope its not just so doctor who can become yet another 'only beautiful people allowed' show.
Mind you, the BBC are pretty careful about casting for their prime real estate, so he may just be the best choice.
For me though, although I liked Eccleston and Tennant, I've always considered Tom Baker to be the definitive Doctor. When will they bring back the mad scarfs?
Re:interesting choice (Score:4, Informative)
I hope its not just so doctor who can become yet another 'only beautiful people allowed' show.
I'm guessing you haven't seen a photo of him - striking features, perhaps even with a touch of 'alien', but definitely not 'beautiful people' material
I will be sorry to see Tennant go, but then I thought Eccleston would be hard to follow. The only thing I've seen Matt Smith in is the BBC adaption of Philip Pullman's 'Ruby in the Smoke' - Nothing in that performance looked very 'Doctory', but neither did Tennant in Casanova, so we'll just have to wait and see...
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Re:interesting choice (Score:4, Insightful)
In terms of doctors, look at some of the original William Hartnell stuff. It was a different show, more classically inspired, more logical, less magical thinking and gadgets. It was interesting. The show changes as new people get involves, not only actors by also writers. For instance, the decision to destroy K-9 and get back to more thinking show, what if this happened, who would we react?
Clearly in the new incarnation, Dr. Who is falling dangerous close to the romantic dramedy formula. For some reason we are now given a tortured Doctor. Not sure why. But this casting may indicate that we may be in for even more teen and young adult angst, something that was previously reserved for the companions, and even then it did not work out wonderfully. How man of us loved Turlough? Or it may just be that they want someone who will stay awhile, and not be so expensive. The danger is he may not be any good, and may never want to leave. As wonderful as Tom Baker was, I think he stayed too long, and damaged the ability of the show to rejuvenate when another doctor replaced him.
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:interesting choice (Score:5, Insightful)
I think it really depends on when you first started watching it.
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IMDB link (Score:5, Informative)
Since it wasn't included in the summary and searching for "Matt Smith" brings up page after page of listings on IMDB, here's the profile of the actor in question [imdb.com].
It looks like he hasn't done much in his career so far, and (other than one episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl) I don't see anything that American audiences would be familiar with there.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Looks like he has worked with [imdb.com] Billie Piper before. Would be interesting if she was still on the show..
Re:IMDB link (Score:4, Funny)
Sorry, but you're mixing up your spacetime continuum. Let me fix it:
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Moffat is replacing RTD though, and Moffat is a MUCH better writer. Repeatedly nominated for Hugo Awards for his Doctor Who episodes kind of better. So RTD going will probably be a good thing overall.
As for the actor though...his hair really worries me. There shall be no emo in my doctor. Period.
I'd like Rowan Atkinson to be the 13th Doctor... (Score:4, Funny)
Imagine a doctor as cunning and stupid as the Black Adder...a major TV hit!
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Try the youtube video instead.. (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhmWRjo7gKI [youtube.com]
It comes with sound of voice, facial gestures, gesticulation etc.
Hair is still annoying though, head still looks way too big for the body, and he appears way too young for the role.
It somehow just ain't right for the Docta to be younger than yours truly.
Now I know how Frank Miller felt when he realized that he was older than Batman.
But at least the guy still has his own nose.
If he was an Hollywood actor, half of it would be gone by now, and he would look eve
Re:11th or 10th? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not sure if the tenth regeneration could count either. Ohhhhh! In THAT sense! Ok. It's unclear. Time Lords may be able to change their appearance without actually using up a regeneration (Romana was way too bright to have wasted an entire life after a mere 150 years), so it would seem to follow that "partial" regeneration is possible without using up an actual regeneration in the process.
Although this is the 11th Doctor, it is also questionable as to whether each life has used up a regeneration. The Second Doctor to the Third may or may not have been a regeneration but it was under the control and supervision of Time Lord technology. The life-energy (or whatever) that is involved in the process could therefore have been external. If so, it would not have used up that amount of energy internally. The same could be argued for the Fourth to Fifth, as the Watcher was an external source of regenerative energy. (The Third to the Fourth was started externally but the energy was internal.)
If you want to take this line of reasoning further, you may also wish to consider Mawdryn Undead. In that, The Doctor was due to have all his remaining regenerations drained to kill off Mawdryn and his associates. The Brigadier intervened, saving him. But is that all he did? Action and reaction are equal and opposite, and the circuit was still complete. If the machine could take regenerations away, a reverse surge should logically add them. This should give The Doctor potentially another six lives.
Also consider Brain of Morbius. We don't know what effect the elixier had on The Doctor. It is supposed to aid in failed regenerations, so presumably provides an external energy source in addition to any other curative properties. Those who drank it did, after all, become immortal for the duration of drinking it, which suggests that it had that kind of restorative power. This potentially gives The Doctor another additional life, as he didn't require a regeneration to heal.
Finally, if you subscribe to the notion that Russel T Davis is, in fact, a Dalek Agent hell-bent on destroying The Doctor's reputation, you can disregard as much of DW:TNG as you like.
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Re:11th or 10th? (Score:4, Interesting)
The Daleks do have two origins, but I figured out a solution to that. Some Daleks were sent to the Thaal city and had not returned at the time The Doctor destroyed the entranceway. These would have been trapped in the Thaal city and, lacking access to the computer data banks in the Kaled city, would have necessarily invented their own past in order to explain their existence. Lacking advanced technology, they would also have been forced to improvize, hence their use of static electricity.
The population in the Kaled city, however, have suffered some damage to their computer systems. They would have therefore had no ability to be aware of the population of Daleks in the Thaal city. These Kaled Daleks become convinced that they are the only Daleks and therefore do not reconnect with the Thaal Daleks.
As the Thaals possessed rocketry, the Thaal Dalek population rapidly develops space flight (hence their invasion of other worlds) and eventually develop time travel as well (The Chase). The Kaled Daleks independently develop space flight but their seclusion has resulted in a more imperial, structured regime. Eventually, these Dalek populations rediscover each other and partly re-merge. However, the inability to reconcile histories results in the split between the loyalist Daleks and the Imperial Daleks. The mythologies created by the Thaal Daleks also results in groups like the Cult of Skaro and the Emperor-God seen at the end of the 10th Doctor run.
We now have a reconciled history that "explains" the two origin stories and the factionalism that should not have existed in the lower-level Daleks. (Picture the Daleks as similar in structure to the original Cylons of Battlestar Galactica, where the warriors have one primitive brain, the more senior Cylons have two more sophisticated brains and the highest-ranking ones have three highly sophisticated brains.)
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Please get that man a haircut.
The current look seems to be "half a flock of seagulls"
I like how the filename is misspelled, too. Sharp tacks over there.