DOCTOR WHO: MATT SMITH IS THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR
The BBC have officially announced that the eleventh actor to portray the rogue Time Lord known as The Doctor will be 26 year old Matt Smith. Smith, the youngest actor to ever take the lead in Doctor Who, is known to audiences from the TV adaptations of Philip Pullman novels as well as the hugely popular stage version of Alan Bennett’s History Boys. This ends the months of speculation as to whether there would be a woman or someone of a different ethnic background piloting the TARDIS.
My opinion? Disappointment, really. My first thoughts are that he is too young, too wiry and has little of the presence that the Doctor needs. I look forward to being impressed, or at least proven wrong, and as Stephen Moffatt will be in charge by the time that Smith takes over, the stories should at least be well put together. Until I get to see him in action, I’ll have to reserve judgement. My chief concern is that the casting of Smith is leaning more and more towards concentrating on pretty boys instead of a lead actor with real gravitas. I wish Matt all the best with the role, but would have much preferred someone a good twenty years older. More William Hartnell/Tom Baker than David Tennant. The Doctor should be a force of nature, not a heart-throb.
As ever, we will be folloing the evolution of Doctor Who’s next series very closely.
