Probably helps to attract female viewers who aren't into sci-fi if the male lead is attractive and the scripts are more emotional/romantic, not everyone who watches Dr Who male or female would consider themselves a sci-fi fan.

Has Dr Who with DT been more popular with females than it was with CE?

I suspect the ratings might drop a bit for the show but that's in no way down to either Matt Smith nor Steve Moffat. There often seems to be a peak of interest after 4, maybe 5 years of a show in the UK (other than soaps). Doctor Who may buck that trend, we'll soon see.

I think it's interesting that people complain about the age. I personally think the reason that we're getting younger Doctors has less to do with TV execs seeking audiences and more to do with the fact that in our rapidly-changing digital world, age doesn't necessarily equal knowledge and experience any more. They have the budgets to do flashy futuristic settings now - would a younger Doctor look more comfortable in that kind of setting? Does it feel more plausible to see technobable coming out of a younger mouth?

I would say without a doubt. I was having this discussion with the missus a while ago when it was first announced who was taking over. We had taken the kiddie to the park, and I put it to her that "yummy mummies" would stop watching when DT left. She totally poo-poohed that as we sat down at a bench, saying Matt was a great actor in the stuff we'd seen him in. I didn't disagree, but said that had nothing to do with it. The mums love DT.

Not two minutes later a couple of mums sat down on alongside us and were surprisingly talking about Who. One said, "What do you reckon to the new Doctor then?". The other replied "Ooh no, I'll not bother one this one leaves. He's not as nice looking". We couldn't believe it! The missus was shocked. I wasn't.

So there you have it.

I have no doubt though, that the kids will love him, and fans of the show will too. I was heartened by the fact that my own daughter had a much better reaction to Matt than she did to David. Myself, I think he'll be fantastic, and he's supported by one of the best British telly writers there is imho.

True, but it's also true for any genre and it's also true for straight males watching a show to which they show otherwise no inclination whatsoever if the leading female is attractive.
I had a boyfriend in his late twenties who watched Dawson's Creek because he thought Katie Holmes was gorgeous

I think that in the end, whatever the show, whatever the genre, there will always be fangirls or fanboys of the leading actress and actor. It doesn't diminish their status as fans and it helps the show because it improves the ratings.
They may not be really fans of the show itself to begin with but in their own way they help to improve its popularity, they ensure that it keeps going on.
And isn't it what we all truly care about ? That DW keeps going on.

The backlash towards Matt Smith seems to me like any other backlash I've seen on this board whoever it was aimed to : a very vocal minority who sometimes don't even watch the stories they are criticizing. And it's even truer when it comes to a Doctor no one has seen in a proper story yet.


I have no idea. We'd need figures to answer properly I believe.

Some people might stop watching, but then some people who maybe lost interest might start again, now there's a new Doctor? Given its pretty much a complete overhaul with everything now that Moffat's taking over, its a fresh start, and that may attract new viewers.

I loved David Tennant as the Doctor, no doubt about it, but I'm still going to be watching. The first series of Doctor Who I saw was series 3, followed by 2 and then the first one. After falling in love with Tennant for two series even *I* didn't like him when I finally saw the regeneration. I'm getting far more positive vibes from Smith, when he exclaimed that he had legs and kissed them my previously crying face just burst out laughing. Its too soon to judge, but I'm really looking forward to Series 5 now.

A lot of my female friends who love Doctor Who fancy the pants off Tennant (they're only human, its natural), and they probably fit the bill of crazed fangirls who apparently will stop watching. Interestingly, none of them are stopping watching just because he's leaving. Most of them are excited about where the show's going to go now with Matt. Sure, there are some superficial people out there, but maybe not as many as people think. I bet a lot of people who say they aren't going to watch will do, just as after series you get muppets saying 'Ah, no, no more for me its all going downhill its terrible blah blah blah,' then they're back for the next one. No point in trying to predict who will or won't watch the next series.

I don't think it's entirely fair judging his future performances on a mere minute's worth of screen time. There's no way Matt Smith could have really given an awful lot of indication of the type of character his version of the Doctor will adopt in that time. Plus, having just regenerated, I don't see how you can expect the latest Doctor to be completely different from the outset to begin with anyway; bear in mind it is still the same timelord and he is likely to take time to adjust to his new body and outlook!



I agree! Men leer over women all the time and it's only ever "a bit of harmless fun" and is usually completely accepted. Yet if women state that they find someone attractive then all hell breaks loose and they get treated as though they're shallow.

Tom Baker leaving was surely a bigger hurdle to overcome,granted i was only eleven but the prospect of Davison replacing him was utterly fear inducing but hey ho PD soon became my favourite soo what i'm trying to say is as good as Tennant was Matt will soon make the role his own especially with what looks like a better creative team behind him which is probably more important imo.

The OP seems to be extremely negative about Matt Smith so in the interest of balance I'm going in completely the opposite direction ...

I think Matt Smith could be the BEST Doctor yet!

Should have been Chris Addison, he is the Doctor.

I only know that although I felt a tinge of sadness as DT vanished I felt myself smile soon after the MS monologue began. I think he's going to do just fine.

No, and..


...yes.

I adored DT as the Doctor. He was my second favourite to Tom Baker. He was my Doctor Who as a teen.

Remember the show they did introducing the new Doctor. Then Moffett said they had quite a few people in to read and Matt Smith blew them away. They thought he was too young but decided he was the Doctor Who they wanted.

So I will give him a chance.

Viewing figures are of secondary importance now....it's all about DVD Boxset sales/tie-in merchandise, that's where all these shows really make their money.

Family Guy has modest viewing figures....but keeps being made due to the sheer volume of DVD sales.

HBO make huge budget shows because they know they're gonna do well on DVD

Dave spent a huge amount of money for a small UK digital station on bringing back Red Dwarf for a two parter. and they filmed it in HD (not cheap). They did this because the knew the DVD/Blu-Ray sales from fans worldwide would easily make them see a profit.

The Prisoner was made 45 years ago, but still generates a decent income for ITV due to constant DVD boxsets.

TV companies care a lot more about targeting the minority 'cult tv nerd' as they know they are hyper consumers. It's far better for these companies to create 5 million hardcore fans than say 20 million casual fans. The hardcore fans buy the boxsets, the T-shirts, the videogames, the fanzines etc. etc.

Worldwide Doctor Who has minor cult viewing figures, but it makes serious 'mainstream' money for the BBC in terms of DVD/merchandise revenue.

the same crap happened when CE left and DT arrived the same crap with donna its boring i cant wait for the new series and i hope the lad makes everyone eat there words because ignorance isnt bliss

DT wasn't great when CE regenerated, and I still don't like DT's performance in the christmas invasion, but he turned into a great Doctor. Matt Smith needs time to find his Doctor, hard to do when the TARDIS was crashing around him.

This was basically my response it was sad when he finally got all golden and flamey however the second MS started his monolouge I actually started to smile.

For me (much like for a lot of people), the only successor to David Tennant I would have been happy with would have been David Tennant! As that was never going to happen I do find it hard to be objective about Matt Smith. The regeneration scene has to be the hardest as the episode leading up to it has been all about the outgoing Doctor so I don't feel I can "judge" Matt until he starts on his own adventures. I hated his first minute on screen but as so many of you have said, you can't condemn someone for one short and challenging scene. He does seem too young to me and I hope that his youth doesn't lead to the writers trying to target younger viewers. That said, at least he isn't a High School Musical style pretty boy so those fears will hopefully come to nothing.

I'll be very surprised if our new Doctor replaces DT in my affections but I managed to enjoy the programme (most of the time) in the years between my previous favourite Tom Baker's departure and David Tennant's arrival!

He has a really tough job taking over from David Tennant. I dont know if he has the charisma or personality to make the part his own but I havent written him off completely. Is Matt Smith a total newcomer to tv cos i havent seen him in anything before? If so this could be a good thing cos we are judging him purely on this role and have no idea what to expect from him.

Actually I am already enthused by the outlandish costume that Matt has for the role.

Whilst it brought an element of the contemporary to the role when Tennant and Eccleston were the Doctors it also, to my mind, time-locked the Doctor too much as a creature of our time- cue 2009 contemporary jokes from the Doctor which felt for the most part totally inappropriate for a Universe and 4th dimension roaming 900 year old.

If Smith brings back some of the doctors alienness instead of him being a poor clone of a Whedonesque character then all well and good as far as I am concerned.

Couple of things on the trailer. Matts punch and the gun scene hardly look very Bruce Willis or Torchwood so I am thinking, because these are out of context we are not getting the full picture. When he says "Trust me I'm the Doctor" that has some weight to it...have to say I am hugley optimistic about this.

He was in The Ruby in the Smoke a couple of Christmases back and was very good in that.

We all know John Simm should have got the role as the next doctor.

Still I think Matt Smith will be a great doctor

Doctor Who has always been aimed at children first and an older audience second. And if you're aiming at the High School Musical loving crowd, Matt's actually pretty old and not that fit. But children don't much care about that.


No, we don't all know that. And when you take on a major role as someone else in Doctor Who you know you're removing yourself from being considered for a different one in the near future. One thing for Freema to play a minor Cyberman victim and then play her lookalike cousin, but you can't have the Doctor regenerate into a clone of the Master.

It should have been Alan Rickman. He'd would have been fantasic. However I'll give Matt Smith a chance.

Matt said he did not want to be there for just one series.

I think millions will watch matt's first few episodes and then if they are not won over then they will stop.