Matt Smith is the 11th Doctor

Well, that was out of the blue!

Like many others, it probably went something like this (reposted from DWF - yes, I dared to enter):

1) WTF!?
...pause...
2) OH, HE'S JUST A KID!!
...pause for 30 mins...
3) HE LOOKS LIKE AN UNSCARRED YOUNG GORDON RAMSEY!!!
...pause...
4) OR DAVID BOWIE CIRCA 1973. HEY! HE'S GOT NO EYEBROWS!!
...pause for 30 mins...
5) ACTUALLY, MOFFAT AND WENGER DID SAY THAT THEY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT HIS YOUTH BUT NEVERTHELESS CHOSE THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB.
...pause for 30 mins...
6) ACTUALLY, I'M WARMING TO THE IDEA.
....pause...
7) HE HAS A CERTAIN *SOMETHING*....
...pause...
8 ) YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M SOLD ON HIM. BRING IT ON!

....Annnnnd relax....

I just saw "Confidential" right after having finally watched The Ruby In The Smoke.

He'll be good. They've done well, Das Uber Boot.

I think he has it. He has a look, he has a presence, and the last look to camera in Confidential sold me. Now we have to put up with waiting an entire year to see him in action.

Frankly, squee. A small one, but squee nevertheless.

Dave Webb wrote:I just saw "Confidential" right after having finally watched The Ruby In The Smoke.

He'll be good. They've done well, Das Uber Boot.

I think he has it. He has a look, he has a presence, and the last look to camera in Confidential sold me. Now we have to put up with waiting an entire year to see him in action.

Frankly, squee. A small one, but squee nevertheless.

Indeed? Good to know. I shall have to seek out said Confidential then.

Zoltar wrote:Indeed? Good to know. I shall have to seek out said Confidential then.

Just watched the bit with Smith on YouTube. Yeah, I like him. Look forward to seeing what he'll do with the part.

I have yet to see the DWC where Mr. Smith was introduced. Did Moffat give any particular insights as to what sort of character the 11th Doctor would be?

Patrick wrote:I have yet to see the DWC where Mr. Smith was introduced. Did Moffat give any particular insights as to what sort of character the 11th Doctor would be?

I've only seen a clip from it on YouTube so far, one with no comments to that effect by Moffat. Just search Matt's name and you should see the clip I saw.

Zoltar wrote:I've only seen a clip from it on YouTube so far, one with no comments to that effect by Moffat. Just search Matt's name and you should see the clip I saw.

Remember in Time Crash, that line Moffat wrote about Davison being 'his' Doctor? I'm wondering if Moffat is wanting to sort of recreate a 'reckless' innocent again.

Patrick wrote:

Zoltar wrote:I've only seen a clip from it on YouTube so far, one with no comments to that effect by Moffat. Just search Matt's name and you should see the clip I saw.

Remember in Time Crash, that line Moffat wrote about Davison being 'his' Doctor? I'm wondering if Moffat is wanting to sort of recreate a 'reckless' innocent again.

The Moff was quoted as saying Smith blew them away with "a bold and brand new take on the Time Lord", but it wouldn't surprise me if some 5th Doctor came through in the part.

Dave Webb wrote:But, yeah, this does have echoes of the Davison era...

(and)

I think we should trust the production team.

Y'see, neither of those admonitions hold any reassurance for me.

I actually didn't like much of the Davison (or Colin Baker, for that matter) era. To me, the Davison doc "seemed" a bit helpless and ineffective, with that squabbling crew, and way too much violence in the stories. For me. (There, I've said it. Sorry to run counter to the grain, but hey.)

And I didn't trust the 2005 production crew until... about 3 eps in.

So... I was hoping for a little more to see of him, to build up good thoughts. I will go seek out the Confidential (which we don't have direct access to) and will... sit back and wait like we all will.

Morning all!

Mrs Lee is ill with a cold, and I have been tending her through the night, hence my being awake at such an ungodly hour. While she snoozes. I thought I'd write down some thoughts.

Miles is, of course, wrong. as he is about so much nowadays that I don't really know why I read him any more. A boring choice would have been a Hartnell-esque Doctor, precisely because that would have been the most contrasting choice away from David Tennant. Instead, we've been given clues for how Moffat intends to approach the new series, one with clues sown from Time Crash. In many ways, the RTD years have been a series of "Production choices from the past done in a new way, and possibly better:" the Daleks as serious universe conquerors from the TV21 strips; the Doctor as a mysterious alien; an argumentative companion who won't take as much bullshit from the Doctor as some; the Master as the Doctor's dark side.

With Smith's casting, we have the promise of the Davison years revisited, but this time with scripts and budget to equal the ideas. We can look forward to a millennia old alien, tired and vulnerable while trapped in a body far too young. We move further away from the cliche, evoked back in the run-up to Eccleston's casting, of a middle-aged man in Edwardian fancy dress.

And an actor with loads to prove: can he be as successful as arguably the most popular Doctor ever (definitely the most consistently popular Doctor- each year his ratings have improved- something even Tom failed to do)? Can he replace Tennant in the affections of the audience? Can he meet the challenge of acting as well as Tennant? Can he shoulder the burden of one of the BBC's flagship shows having never been the lead in a series before?

In all honesty, far from being a boring and safe choice, the casting of Smith is an incredibly brave choice, flying in the face of fan opinion. And it is definitely a mission statement from Steven Moffat- telling the audience to expect the unexpected, that he's his own man and not simply Russell T Davis mark 2.

Will it work? I have no idea. Would Smith have been my choice? No- I would have cast a more experienced actor. But I am in exactly the same position now as I was when the new series was announced back in 2004- willing the show on to all success, but also able to accept the fact that it may not be something I would necessarily enjoy. But also willing to give it a chance.

At the very least, we live in exciting times!

warped wrote:Y'see, neither of those admonitions hold any reassurance for me.

I actually didn't like much of the Davison (or Colin Baker, for that matter) era. To me, the Davison doc "seemed" a bit helpless and ineffective, with that squabbling crew, and way too much violence in the stories. For me. (There, I've said it. Sorry to run counter to the grain, but hey.)

The elements of the Davison and Baker 2 eras that you didn't like are not the fault of the casting; the actors had no say in the direction the producer and script editor decided to take the show. I agree with you, in general, but I'm much more willing to lay the blame where it needs to go. Eric Saward and, to an extend, John Nathan Turner.

My read on Saward is that he wanted Doctor Who to be a grim and gritty grown up drama which is why certain elements become far more prevalent than they had been (the Doctor has been swinging punches since Pertwee but things only become bleak and hopeless when Saward gets involved). We know this doesn't work, and it didn't. I think you and I both objected to the same things.

Whereas now, we have Moffat in charge, who is scary but upbeat. He likes endings where the Doctor actually saves the day, for one thing.

Sid Seadevil wrote:

Johnstone McGuckian wrote:It's going very slowly. The best thing for them to do would be to leave it open to everyone and let everyone log off when it doesn't work. It gets things sorted so much faster.

I actually suspect the lock-out was at least partially intended to act as incentive to make members take out Patron status. Certainly, it clearly hasn't worked as a way to alleviate server strain.

Sorry this is off topic, but need to respond. These suspicions are not true, and it has worked to alleviate server strain, in a major way. However, we're still tweaking things, and we're also still learning "best practices" for the process (such as the best time to reopen the forum).

If you hadn't noticed, we've had people asking several times how many Patrons we have or how many more we've had since announcing Peak Hours, and we don't answer, because if we did, everyone would think we were either lying or putting out a sob story. It's been quite, quite minimal. This is one reason why we knew it would work...the total number of Patrons isn't even near the danger zone for forum overload.

Lee,
That was a cogent and eloquent bit of analysis. I applaud you, sir, and wish Mrs. Lee a speedy recovery.

Your summation has given me reason to trot out an old theory of mine that I'd like to offer up again for consideration, because it seems to fit a pattern.

I've said previously that with each of RTD's four seasons, each could be linked, conceptually, to the era of the Doctor with which they were numerically aligned. I'll expand in brief:

Series 1:
We found a Doctor who was emotionally distant and apparently running from something in his past. With this Doctor, we were introduced to his all time nemesis: the Daleks. And with this Doctor, we saw the miracle that only a Time Lord can achieve: complete regeneration when ever cell in his body is dying. So, are we talking about Chris Eccleston's Doctor, or William Hartnells'?

Series 2:
A newly regenerated Doctor views in wonder at the sort of creatures the Universe can create, uses the name "James McCrimmon", and meets up with perhaps the second greatest of his all time nemeses: the Cybermen. Although his adventures include a companion he is extremely fond of, those adventures come to an end when it seems his companion is forever separated from him. So, are we talking about Tennant's first season in the role, or Patrick Troughton's?

Series 3:
A lonely Doctor has a doctor by his side in a relationship where the companion feels unequal. Liz Shaw felt inadequate, Martha Jones was unrequited. But while they still faced an amazing array of monsters, at the end, this series was about the maneuvering of another Time Lord, the Doctor's own dark mirror image: the Master. Again, Tennant or Jon Pertwee?

Series 4:
The Doctor ventures to places to far and wide, from the far future to a past that reads like the stories of a famous detective writer's era. And his companion is a fond friend, who gets costuming clues on a new world wrong. Worse, the TARDIS is mistaken for Modern Art. And still worse, keys to a great machine need to be reassembled to bring about a universal change of some sort. Tom Baker or David Tennant?

What all four of these first 'linkages' have in common is that the Doctor (actor playing the Doctor?) they were aligned with was not what any honest person could young. Now, enter into this Time Crash, where the tenth Doctor says to his fifth self words to the effect that in his early days, prior to the fifth Doctor, he was always trying to be older than he really was to impress people, and I think we have not only a continuation of the pattern, but a logical jumping on point for Steven Moffat to re-envision 'his' Doctor, the youngest Doctor to have appeared on screen in the classic series.

So, who's up for another visit from the Mara, and the new spinoff series, the Tegan Jovanka Adventures? (Just kidding here, but as I said, there is a pattern.)

Just reading the LM blog, now.

*wipes away tears* He manages to slag Moffat and Gaiman off within the second paragraph!

Listened to the commentary for The Next Doc, the other day, and I'm sure that RTD said summat about a spinoff, but I think he was kidding...(I never know with that man. He's a very naughty boy.)

It's a interesting choice that's for sure. Congrats to Moffat and Wenger for being so bold with their choice. This is Smith's big chance in telly-land so he's not going to want to muck it up. It should be a fan 2010!

<<Um. Just saw Kate's post, so deleting mine!>>

Is there a multi-quote function on here, at all? Or some other way to be able to save quotes instead of having to reply and then go back to read the rest of the thread?

Patrick wrote:
Series 4:
The Doctor ventures to places to far and wide, from the far future to a past that reads like the stories of a famous detective writer's era. And his companion is a fond friend, who gets costuming clues on a new world wrong. Worse, the TARDIS is mistaken for Modern Art. And still worse, keys to a great machine need to be reassembled to bring about a universal change of some sort. Tom Baker or David Tennant?

Not to mention a female compannion who gets dumped against her will and an appearance by Dave Ross.

So, who's up for another visit from the Mara,

The Moff's a huge fan of Snakedance isn't he? I think he said it was one of his favourite stories. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I am delighted and eagerly await seeing Mr Smith occupy the TARDIS.
I honestly didnt see this coming at all....and Iv NO idea if they backtracked on Paterson or that Matt was their choice.
We DO know that a misinformation campaign was in full effect and throughout all my contacts and friends, every single one of them was given wrong info.
Perhaps this is how its to be from now on...and if so , it was good fun while it lasted and we move on. Happy to do so.
I am a little disappointed in certain Who fans, although it HAS to be said , not entirely surprised by the more immature knee jerk reaction to Matts casting.
If they feel so strongly to it , then I d quite happily be glad to show them the door to various Star Trek forums where asinine pedantry is a quality actually required.

I was shocked at the chap...what? What? who? is? he?
and then it slowly started to dawn that Matt has a rather unearthly quality and an eccentricity that will befit the role perfectly.
The Doctor can be eccentric, but doesnt need to wear a Clown outfit to demonstrate it.
I wasnt expecting him and if Mr Moffat is happy then we have every reason to show our support rather than make snide comments (Im not referring to anyone here in Wrinklie BTW, Im sure you all know the ones who whinge the loudest and play the victim)

Im chuffed and wouldnt be surprised if the studenty rag costmne Matt wears in his photocall turns out to be his actual costume.

Well done . Truely excited

Well, yes, it is a left field choice but i agree 72 that he's a good choice. There is a mercurial, unearthly quality about him that I think is what the Moff and the Weng saw in him. I can't wait to see him in action.

Frank wrote:Well, yes, it is a left field choice but i agree 72 that he's a good choice. There is a mercurial, unearthly quality about him that I think is what the Moff and the Weng saw in him. I can't wait to see him in action.

it was interesting that they said they saw other people and he was the stand out- wonder who the others were? and "mercurial " is the word tom baker used to describe tennant

I've now had a chance to watch the DWC where Matt was introduced. What I found interesting in the Moff and Piers' description of the audition process was that in giving the actors lines to read, they seemed to have clear expectations of what they were ideally looking for. Reading between the lines, that tells me the Moff is already way down the road in not only making decisions about what the 11th Doctor will be like, he's well down the road on creating scripts and stories for Series 5.

Now I'm really getting eager to see Series 5. This was the Moff's first executive decision, and I think he handled it well- Matt Smith appears to be a well considered choice. And he gets full marks for the cloak of secrecy under which all this was done. It will be fascinating to see if he can keep this cloak of secrecy up to prevent spoilers coming out as they get into actual production later this year.

I'm looking forward to seeing Mr Smith in action. It doesn't take much imagination to see him as an alien from a dead planet.

Avast there, ye swabs. For those interested I've uploaded the full extended version of Matt Smith's Confidential interview. You can find it....Somewhere not a million miles from...HERE

Enjoy.

Sid Seadevil wrote:Avast there, ye swabs. For those interested I've uploaded the full extended version of Matt Smith's Confidential interview. You can find it....Somewhere not a million miles from...HERE

Enjoy.

It's also on the Frank blog!

In answer to Patrick, I believe Matt says in the extended interview that scripts 1 and 4 for Series 5 exist and he's read them!