Obviously it's a job for life, as Colin Baker and McCoy well know, but for how long do you expect Matt Smith to play the role on TV? We know he's getting a second series, so that's two years minimum. At the moment I would like to see him go for four, minimum, although I have a feeling he'll do three and get dazzled by the ghost lights of bigger things.

What think you?

Difficult to say. I think it's quite a hard and physical job, and he might have the idea to go off over the pond () to make his fortune over there (although so far it hasn't worked for Chris or I think David).

I hope he does at least 3 series, but not more than 5 (I think things can get stale if a doctor stays in too long).

i think he signed on for a minimum of 3 years

I thought he was signed up for three series, with an option to extend to 5. I thought that was one of the reasons they ended up with relatively young actors in the audition because more established actors would not commit to the length or intensity of the contract, effectively barring them from being able to do anything else for up to 5 years

Fingers crossed he will sty for at least three years if not more....and no this need has nothing to to do with the whole 13 regeneration stuff that can be dismissed or answerd through a couple of words....but becuase I am loving his Doctor...and would love at leaset three years...but he is an actor after all and for any actor to stay in one role for too long does not always work out for the best. But saying that he is young, so even say he gave Tom Baker a run for his money, he will still be young enough to have the energy to work on thousands of other projects...

Youth and energy aren't the problem, typecasting is. Staying in the role for seven years killed Tom Baker's career. Pertwee was lucky enough to have a a second hit with Worzel Gummidge, but generally I think three years is about the longest an actor can afford to stay in a role as high profile as the Doctor.

If anything, youth is a disadvantage.

older actors may have other "big" roles prior to becoming the doctor so would have less of an issue with typecasting. So staying longer than 3 years may hinder Matts future projects

On a purely selfish note though i hope he extends his contract

Alec Guinness. That is all.

After watching Confidential last saturday I kind of got the same idea...



Sorry to lower the tone!

what do you mean....he did loads after he starred as "Fagin" In oliver twist

I didn't ge that eithe (clearly too young!) Was Alec Guinness typecast?

I don't know why i think this but i have a feeling he might out do Tom Baker as the longest serving doctor.

Interesting. I didn't know that

I hope he sticks out for 5 years. Of course it's early days and it might all go horribly wrong (although I don't think so) but it would be good to have a Dr who stayed for a decent time span. I personally think 2 years is way too short. 3 years is a little bit short (IMO) but I guess it all depends on whether you like the character or not. I'm sure for some people Tennant would've been better if he'd gone after his first series!

Not if he wants to get another job afterward.

Did I read on here somewhere that they wanted to stick to the same format of 4 series and one 'specials' series to bed in a new doctor and new showrunner? That would fit into the 5 year format. I don't think Matt would go longer than Tom Baker- IIRC Baker was a jobbing actor who was a bit down on his luck when he got the part ( May be wrong- I remember him from my youth and LOVED him!) whereas Matt was just building up a promising career. I don't think he would want to restrict himself so much so early on in his career for so long. I think typecasting would be a problem ( although I have a feling I'll be sadder to see him go than Tennant)

All actors are jobbing actors and inevitably have periods of unemployment. I don't think Tom Baker was particularly down on his luck, he was just between roles and doing a temporary job on a building site at the time he was cast.

Typecasting is always going to be a massive problem. Yes, Pertwee was lucky with Wurzel and had another bite of the cherry but that is more the exception. Peter Davison has done ok since he left the series but the Bakers, McCoy and Troughton were totally typecast. I personally think Tennant will struggle to re-establish himself as anything other than the Dr too. Even 'one-series-and-it's-over' Eccleston will always be associated in some people's minds with his role as the Dr.

Hope not- Tennant and Ecclestone in my opinion great charachter actors- not the film star type, but solid tv and theatre types.

Interesting question - ignoring what he's contracted to do, I think that leaving in less than 3 years would look ungrateful. He's not got a family, at the moment, so the filming schedule isn't as hard on him as it would be an actor with children. But I think typecasting could be a tough problem for him, partly because it is for all actors in the role, partly because he didn't have lot of well known roles before that (and hope that doesn't sound like I'm undervaluing his work before this, just talking about how famous he was), and partly because going on interviews so far, and this may just be my perception, he seems to be playing the Doctor quite close to his own personality, which is great for people believing in his doctor but tougher for people to accept him as something completely different in other things. I think he'll get bored after three or four years.

Of course it could depend on how long Moffat stays. How long will he want to be showrunner? How long before he's written out? A new showrunner would probably want a year maximum of Smith and then get their own doctor in. I can't see Moffat doing much longer than RTD.

Eccleston is a film star. Shallow Grave? Gone in 60 Seconds? 28 Days Later? The Others? GI Joe?

Okay, maybe not leading man material, but he has a healthy career of substantial roles in the flicks.

Thats sort of what I meant- not Brad Pitt,but solid actors

I think 3, better to leave us wanting more than us being bored!

Well we know hes gonna be their next year. Hes signed for two but he said on Jonathan Ross he wants to do 2 more years after that who knows. Id say in his 4th year someone else will step in at the end of the series.

No I think it means that he had a healthy career before Star Wars!

Matt Smith - My guess is the same David tennant. Maybe another series longer. Depends how established his career becomes during the future. David had a career before Doctor who with theatre and stuff but of course he wasn't a household name until Doctor who.