Well eleven did not dispel Craig's myth about bringing a boyfriend home.

When I first heard Matt Smith had been cast, I was annoyed because I thought he was too young.

Then I saw the first interview with him in Confidential, and I liked him. I went out and bought 'Party Animals' on DVD to see what he was like as an actor, and I knew he'd be a great Doctor.

I could never have predicted just how much I'd end up loving him though. I knew he'd be great, but not this great. CE was 'my' Doctor, but Matt Smith has been slowly stealing that crown away from him all series, finally snatching it away in 'The Lodger'.

I was dismayed when he was first cast, and then when the promo pics were revealed I thought 'ok, he might be good', and then when the first trailer arrived I had really high hopes, and then within minutes of The Eleventh Hour starting I knew he was going to be the best since Tom Baker. Now he's neck-and-neck with Tom as my favourite Dr. I think he might actually be my favourite ever now as he's so utterly 'adorkable' (© of Gallifrey Base).

he he true!!!

Here's one of the original threads about Matt Smith being announced as the new Doctor

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...mith+too+young

This post seems especially off-the-mark in hindsight:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...&postcount=268

Lol at my post here...

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...69&postcount=4

lol, I noticed that one. In fact I knew it was you even before I read your name next to it

I just congratualted him....cool...


and that post seems like very similar to what people said about CT...

i think more people should make those kind of remarks....as it means that they will be wrong!!!

I didn't expect him to be as good as he is.

I think he's slotted into the role really well.

i do seem to recall there was a poll on the subject that generally favourable towards Matt Smith though, iirc.

eta: here it is....
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...att+smith+poll

58.67 thought he was a good choice
17.14 thought he wasn't a good choice
24.19 weren't sure.

usual vocal minority mouthing off I guess....

Back in the Eighties, when I first heard that that Peter Davison had been chosen to be Tom Baker's successor, I thought he was far too young and would be a rubbish Doctor. I was wrong, very wrong. Peter Davison proved to be an excellent Doctor.

Eighteen months ago (or whenever it was) when I heard that Matt Smith had been chosen to be David Tennant's successor, I didn't think that he was too young and thought he would be a brilliant Doctor. I was right, very right.

For myself I was always willing to give Matt a try. After all Doctor who is one of these shows that having a new face in it will always leads to some erm "heated" points of view. Also checking out some of the stuff he has appeared in before hand gives you an idea of what to expect. I did it with Tennate and I had no need to do that with CE because I knew he was a brilliant actor.

However what I wasn't expecting from matt was show steeling performances in each episode he has been part of. He seems to have the ability to do something in each story which is memorable (Like in VotD holding the Daleks up with a jammy Dodger, the scene in Flesh and Stone with father Octavian before he gets his neck snapped ect) for me Matt has not only become the doctor within a minute of screen time, through out his post regeneration story (The Eleventh hour) he basically made the 11th doctor his own.

I really hope he goes on to have a pretty long run, because I have the feeling this is the role he was ment to play.

I think when I was thinking of a title for this thread, the big kid in me wanted to say : Matt Smith is great, what you got to say for yourself now, eh?!

Then I thought better of it thankfully! The main reason I started it was just to see if any one of those who had judged him before seeing him would come on here and say they were wrong. If they still don't like him now, it's a fair and valid point, as at least they have seen him now.

(Oh, and anytime I can steal your thunder again in future, please let me know! lol!)


As I said at the beginning, not everyone was bad mouthing Smith. There were lots looking forward to watching him, though seeing some of the previous posts published above, it still makes shocking reading!

I didn't want DT to leave. He took the role and made it his own. Coupled with CT during his last full series he was excellent.

When I first saw MS on the reveal special I was unsure. I probably thought, no he won't work. But then I recall JP to TB (my favourite) and subsequent regen's and knew that it'll prob be OK.

I had high hopes after researching what he'd been in. In EoT prt2, when MS first appeared I thought, OMG he is proper bonkers.

The first 10 mins of TEH and he was The Dr.
By episode 8 he was my NEW favourite, (TB 2nd).

My expectations were high and MS has surpassed them. BTW, Bow ties are cool.

I wasn't sure abbot him when he was announced but I bought him as the Doctor from his first episode and genuinely I am considering him up there with Tom Baker now. He is the Doctor.

I adore his performance in this series in a way that the last two couldn't reach (and I had no problem with either of them). But Matt simply is the Doctor of my childhood. Brilliant, angry, wrong, tremendous, frustrated, human, alien. That's his portrayal.

i think the point is that people who are unhappy about something make more of a fuss than those that are content.

I remember a few people had been convinced Paterson Jospeh was going to be cast, and they in particular took the news badly (there were even some accusations of racism directed at SM if you can believe that!).

Wasn't concerned about Davison's youth when that happened, and liked his Doctor. But at the time of Tennant announcement I thought he was too young (wrong) and then definitely thought Smith was far too young (wrong wrong wrong). I had not seen Smith and was happy to believe the acting would be good. I just assumed I'd find it hard to relax and "see" my 900 year old timelord in a kid's body. Plus a slight twinge of doubt that they would be going for a cheeky youngster approach.

No problem at all. And straight away. He's the very essence of an aging gallifreyan. In a youthful body. Remarkable. I'm delighted. Hope most of the little kids who'd got used to Tennant are ok with him.

I'm crossing fingers now that he keeps the portrayal on an even keel for next year - don't go over zany. It is pitch perfect right now. Careful how you tweak it, Matt!

Ahahaha, how funny is that thread now? I only bothered reading two pages of it, but it's just hilarious reading all the doom and gloom. Hard to believe some people said they'd not bother watching the show because he'd ruined it - and not one episode had even aired! Madness, I tell ye, madness.

As for me, I wasn't sure about him when I first saw him in Confidential. I think it simply jarrred because he wasn't what I expected. However, I'd seen him before in Ruby in the Smoke, so I knew he could act (even if I wasn't much a fan of his character in that) and there was no way I was judging him before I'd seen him in the part.

To be honest, I wasn't blown away by his little scene in TEOT, but then I never liked Tennant at the end of PotW, either. So I wasn't going to judge him over a 3 minute clip. The trailer was enough to get me excited about him in the role, though. Loved everything we saw about him in that and left me wetting myself for series 5 to start.

From his first line in TEH he had me hooked and he just carried on getting better throughout. Then he carried on gettnig better as the series has progressed. I'm pretty sure he is now my favourite Doctor ever (and I only say "pretty sure" because that's such a BIG choice to make after less than one series)

So I guess I've gone from unsure/indifferent to totally blown away from his announcement to now. I hope he outdoes Tom Baker in the length he stays in the role.

Matt's achievement has been colossal, IMHO. He was an almost completely unknown actor taking over from DT, apparently one of the most popular and most liked Doctors of all, and someone who had been in the role for four years and who had been credited with helping to make the series a massive success, and for many people, within minutes of The Eleventh Hour, Matt had totally won them over. The 11th Doctor's success is a genuine triumph for Matt Smith and Stephen Moffat.

Yes, I can believe that and I can well imagine the possible uproar on this forum if he had been cast as the Eleventh Doctor. Think it would surpass anything you posted from earlier threads!

I thought he'd be good, he's even better than I expected.

That's absurd. Though there have been rumours that, despite what's been said, Paterson Joseph was actually Moffat's preferred choice initially, and it was blocked by someone higher up who couldn't accept the idea of a black Doctor. That I wouldn't find so hard to believe-the BBC's senior management are capable of any kind of idiocy, I think.

those rumours were spread by those that were behind the PJ casting for the part.

I think it's clear from the odd comments that PJ has made that he did get quite far along in the process, but it's equally clear from what SM has said the knew he wanted Matt Smith in the role from the moment he auditioned first time.

To me he has been a perfect replacement for Tennant.

He has made the role his own and with the help obviously of the scripts and direction has made the doctor a very rounded character.

I like the thoughtful, slower delivery of a lot of the lines which has made the character come across as someone who really has lived a very long time.

I was looking forward to how Matt Smith played the role and for me the highlight of this series so far has been how he has excelled at playing The Doctor. For his first series he has rarely put a foot wrong. I've said before, so sorry for repeating myself, but I look forward to seeing his 'completed' Doctor in series 6 (series 6 who would have thought that 5 years ago) when he personally edits his performance to how he feels it needs tweaking.

I don't think they could have found anyone better to take over from DT, a brilliant piece of casting by Moffat.