Matt Smith was good, not one of the greatest in my opinion. BUT I love the fact that many people who have known the show for so long as evidenced above do like him so much, so what do I know eh

Great thread

I like Eccleston and Capaldi more, simply because they're more to my taste, but Matt was great and I much prefer him to Tennant.


Pretty sure half his life on that planet, fighting that war IS the reason he's been like he has.

Same boat here, but I did on the whole really enjoy 11 on my screen (although far more in S5 than 6/7). Matt made plenty of things more watchable than they otherwise would have been and was also a great ambassador for the show.

A pity that most of his tenure was chopped up and plagued with behind-the-scenes nonsense. He needed some Brian Minchin on his side

I enjoy his era more on rewatch than I did at the time, without the splits and gaps to contend with and with the answers to most the questions from the story arc. Eleven himself is definitely the best thing about it.

Not so: the Third Doctor stripped off in the shower in Spearhead From Space. He even revealed the Doctor has a tattoo - or, at least, the Third Doctor does, or had.

As for the topic... Oh, I'm so torn. I liked Matt Smith enormously, but I feel he was let down by the writing in his era. I found S5 practically unwatchable - apart from the sublime Vincent and the Doctor - and although things improved for me a bit in the next two seasons, the stories (mainly because of the Godawful Amy) were all a bit meh for me. Still, it's all subjective.

I am someone who have watched the show since the first episode was repeated on the 30th November 1963. My favourite Doctor has always been William Hartnell with Patrick Troughton being my second favourite of all time. Of the new series Doctors Matt Smith was the first of them that I felt really was the Doctor and I really enjoyed his portrayal. I remember when I watched Deep Breath being delighted when Matt put in an appearance. I quite like Peter Capaldi but as to the new Doctors, Matt is still my favorite. Indeed I would probably rank him as my fourth favourite of all of them. I would like to say though that I am really disappointed that Paul McGann hasn't got more tele Doctor Who to do. I thought he was excellent in the mini episode and I wish he could do more.

I'll add a +1 to that. I think it says a lot about McGann's portrayal that he's so well-loved in the role, even though most people have only ever experienced him in one story - and it was mostly a rubbish one, too!

Being that he's the last one still young enough to really pull it off, I'd still love (and hope) that we might one day get a multi-Doc story with McGann, Eccelston, Tennant, Smith and Capaldi. I know I dream an impossible dream there, though.

Seconded! And I think a lot of people would like to see more of McGann's doctor.

However I don't see the point of him coming back as just one of a number of former doctor cameos. Given his woeful lack of screen-time in the role, if McGann is to ever come back, it should be in a two-parter with the incumbant doctor, and no other returning characters, ensuring plenty of screen-time for McGann.

If it's never referenced and never stated then no, it's not. That isn't how fiction works. By that token I could also say that the death of the dinosaur caused him to be grumpy because it happened whilst he was 'cooking'.

As I said, it's a pity they didn't actually include it. It's a real weakness in the character of 12 and something Moffat seems to be undoing now by the admission that he'll be kinder and softer in the upcoming series.

Matt created a Doctor that you'd want to travel with. I couldn't see any reason why you'd want to travel with 12 during last series which is a writing fault (wanting to do something 'different') rather than anything to do with Capaldi.

I still don't know where you read those Moffat promises, Claire - can you source?

I wonder whether the fact that people who knew the show in the early days often have a positive opinion of Matt is because, since he wasn't a fan of the show, he actually studied the previous interpretations (particularly Troughton, who also informed Tom Bakers interpretation). It may be that fans of the show (such as Tennant and Capaldi) bring their own pre-formed notions of the part to it.

Matt is also my favourite Doctor although, unlike some, I can't claim too strongly as I've only watched the show with Eccelston, Tennant, Smith and now Capaldi. I always saw Tennant as my favourite and actually stopped watching after he left (for other reasons besides him leaving) and only started watching Matt's episodes when Jenna joined the cast (big Emmerdale fan) and was very surprised how quickly I took to Matt. I thought Tennant was still my favourite Doctor until Day of the Doctor when I realised that Matt had overtaken him in my eyes.
I was gutted when I learnt Matt was leaving, blubbed my way through Time of the Doctor and told myself I'd stop watching. Thanks to a friend I stuck with it and although it took me a while to warm to Capaldi, I did. I actually really like him. No where near over taking Matt, for me but I'm still loving his portrayal of the Doctor. Also really like the chemistry between him and Jenna, think they work brilliantly together.

So, yes, Matt is still my Doctor.

I am old enough to remember watching the very first episode with William Hartnell and became hooked on Dr Who since then. Tom Baker was always my favourite Dr until Matt Smith. I thought his performances were brilliant especially when he sometimes seemed to be so very old with such a young face. He had quite a few duff scripts but he managed them very well with his own inimitable style and made them watchable. He was funny, serious and heartbreaking. My favourite episode was the Doctor's Wife where his relationship with the Tardis made me laugh and cry. He is a great actor.

Of course it doesn't have to be referenced - it's so bleedin obvious. 100 years of constant, wearisome fighting is bound to change a person, even a time-lord. It's just that Moffat treats the audience like adults and doesn't believe in over-exposition.

However if that wasn't the reason and there was no "good reason", would that matter? In real life, there are plenty of people who are grumpy, sometimes with, and sometimes without good reason. Indeed, the 1st doctor was grumpy without a clearly explained reason. And that's fine.

It's certainly not a writing fault. You wouldn't want to travel with the 12th Doctor. In contrast, I'd far rather travel with 12 than 11. So clearly, this isn't a fault with the writers, it's just yours and my personal preference. Moffat isn't to blame.

Hi Ian!
Sorry off topic not about Matt for a minute folks but I simply need to ask -what did folks think in 1963 when Doctor Who first came out as it was so different to what was shown on BBC in those days-I'm so interested to know how other normal folk took to it??!

As for Peter Capaldi,I think I liked him more in the last Christmas episode as he wasn't just the grumpy doctor we've seen as yes I do also feel as it shows he's acting at the moment ,the doctor isn't his own where as I was taken with Matt by the end of Eleventh Hour,
I have to say it was a great Christmas episode but my favourite up to now has to be A Christmas Carol -I don't know what it was about it but I couldn't stop watching it,a bit like I was with The a Eleventh Hour too,I was mesmerised with those episodes along with many more-A doctors Wife,I could go on.,series 5 for me was wonderful,just superb,series 6 was fabulous too,series 7 hit and miss stories but Matt shone through ,

It's strange this is the first year I haven't ordered the series 8 DVDs too : maybe I will in time as I do love my collection ,

It was very different in that it was aimed at children in an educational sense, going back to historical events etc as well as 'space monsters', but adults watched it too as the drama side of it wasn't dumbed down and the idea of a mysterious alien lead character was in line with the interest in SF in those days. When there were two channels and limited hours of TV families tended to watch together anyway and late afternoon/early evening at weekends was at the perfect time for that, at least as far as I remember. My family had only had a TV for about 2-3 years so it was still a novelty, a lot of people were in that position and Who just took off at every level. We were playing Daleks in the school playground more or less from the first day they appeared, and there was a Boys and Girls Exhibition at Olympia in 1964 and some Daleks were more or less the main attraction (I know as I whinged until I was taken to see them, along with thousands of other kids)

Sorry but that isn't how fiction or drama works. You have to actually tackle things to make them relevant and interesting. Not just hand wave and go 'oh it's that but we'll never bring it up'. Any trainee screenwriter would get slaughtered if they had a reason for their character's behaviour and NEVER brought it up or tackled it.

It's kind of laughable to suggest there's this really in depth reason for his behaviour but they made a conscious decision not to go into it. No writer would do that - it would be utterly nonsensical!


Yes! Otherwise that's not proper characterisation. That isn't how any writer would create a character.

Well for a start, it's been clearly established within the canon of Doctor Who that the character of the Doctor not only changes physically with each regeneration, but that elements of his personality change also. This is a well-known fact within the history of the show. More specifically the whole paradox of it being a different man yet the same man was discussed extensively within Deep Breath. So Moffat was under no obligation to start treating the audience like dummies and giving us extensive exposition.

There's also such a thing as cause and effect. A man spends 100 years fighting a lone battle to defend people he doesn't really know - that is bound to have an impact on the doctor's personality. It's obvious enough that it doesn't need to be stated and we don't need to be spoon-fed. However it may well be stated categorically at some point in the next series. Moffat often resolves loose threads quite some time later.

But let's just assume, for sake of argument, that the events on Trenzalore had nothing to do with Capaldi's grumpiness and that's why they haven't been referenced. Well that's fine too. William Hartnell's Doctor was grumpy. Was it explained implicitly? No. And it added to the enigma and mystery of the doctor.

You may have a desire to have everything explained, but not all of us do; and lack of explanation does not make Moffat a bad writer.

Hi Ella,

In answer to your question I had heard about this great new series at school but I had not seen the first episode as I had been at a Scouts' Gang Show. I watched the repeat and the Cave of Skulls. I thought that the Doctor was a 'baddie.' Back then my favourite programme was Badger's Bend - which was about an animal hotel. We had to write about our favourite TV show in school and Badger's Bend was the one I wrote about while most of my fellow pupils were writing about Doctor Who! However as Doctor Who went on I became more and more interested in it. In that first season I missed 7 episodes in total and the only episode I have never seen is the last episode of Marco Polo. I'm not sure when it started to become my all time favourite show - perhaps around the middle of the first Dalek story I suppose. I liked all the TARDIS crew very much indeed. Back when it started I had always liked fantastic television and I remember watching Secret or City Beneath the Sea which pre-dates Doctor Who. I also watched the Sunday classic serials. However as time went on I became the only member of my family to watch Doctor Who while we watched the classic serial as a family. However I have to say that I have always enjoyed TV - in fact I used to watch as much as my parents would let me - which was not a lot back then! I am still catching up on TV shows I wanted to see years ago....if they still exist. I hope that answers you question - thank you for asking.

Thank you Talma,that was really interesting,I hope Ian will let me know if his memories of Doctor Who in the 60s,
It was Doctor Who in the early 70s for me and I just remember loving it but being genuinely scared,we went to a Doctor Who exhibition in the 70s I remember it vividly the daleks were there and I remember one of them coming towards me but in those days they were on tracks just going round,I wasn't to know as a 6year old child I was terrified of it,
I must have been as I remember that particular incident to this day -something I don't think kids would be scared of as there's sooo many monsters on TV today isn't there?

As for being genuinley scared during a Matts reign,it was my young teenage grandson watching Doctor Who with me in the dark in a small bedroom with a big TV I think it's called Flesh and Stone when the weeping angel slowly came out of the TV to Amy,
I was thinking of The Ring while he just literally panicked and turned the light on-great stuff!

What's other people's genuinlry scary (or quite scary ) moment ?

Yes, it is!

Rubbish fiction spells everything out pedantically. Good drama riffs on subtext. The bloke who's been trying his best not to fight a war for centuries and watching generations of people wither around him is suddenly a lot less anxious for people's approval - do the maths! The show touches on this -

VASTRA: He flirted with you.
CLARA: How?
VASTRA: He looked young. Who do you think that was for?
CLARA: Me?
VASTRA: Everyone. I wear a veil as he wore a face for the same reason.
CLARA: What reason?
VASTRA: The oldest reason there is for anything. To be accepted. [...] The Doctor regenerated in your presence. The young man disappeared, the veil lifted. He trusted you. Are you judging him?

DOCTOR: I've lived for over two thousand years, and not all of them were good. I've made many mistakes, and it's about time that I did something about that. Clara, I'm not your boyfriend.
CLARA: I never thought you were.
DOCTOR: I never said it was your mistake.

- indeed, it's rather well explored as a theme in Deep Breath, they don't brush it under the carpet. But it equally doesn't insult the viewer by including a manual. And quite right, too!

I totally agree and am an older viewer. I remember Troughton and Jon Pertwee when I was young. All of the doctors have brought something to the part and while I quite like Capaldi, he hasn't made me feel the same as Matt. Strangely Capaldi actually seems younger than Matt Smith.

It's just a great shame that Seasons 6 & 7 were so below average after Matt's wonderful first season.

He was brilliant.

Just rewatching series 7 part 2 on Watch and I miss Matt so much. Amazing actor in the role, love him. Got choked up at the Rings of Akhatan speech.

I think the years spent on Trenzalore contributed a lot to Twelve's personality. In particular his dislike for soldiers. The guy was very well-respected on Trenzalore and so presumably saw hundreds of ''Trenzalorians'' die on his behalf during the war. That can't have done much good for his conscience.