And the Doctor is....

[newnumber6]

Matt Smith

Truly moving from "Doctor Who" to "Doctor ... who?"

Edit to add: Nope, still no idea who he is, never seen him in a single thing. Kinda disappointed they went younger _yet again_ though. Would have liked to see a bit of an older actor in the role. On the other hand, although I've no problem with a black actor in the role and was rooting for him early on, I'm kinda relieved Paterson Joseph didn't get it because that means he's more likely to be continuing in Survivors, which I've come to enjoy.

Edit more: Now can we please be hearing about the companion(s)? *crosses fingers for non-contemporary, multiple companions, and/or alien companions.

Comments

[locker-monster.livejournal.com]

I actually know who this guy is! He was in The Ruby in the Smoke with Billie Piper. Wow. He is young though. I know all the young girls will watch if the actor is younger, but jeez. 26? He's not that much older than I am.

Oh well. At least all the speculation is over. It was kind of funny, watching all the sites, with people not so patiently waiting for the announcement.

I can just foresee a wave of Sally Lockhart crossovers with Doctor Who.

[angelophile.livejournal.com]

I'm not, to be honest, entirely displeased with the approach of picking a complete unknown who no one has ever heard of (although I did see him in The Ruby and the Smoke and he was okay there) as it means the actor can become the Doctor rather than it being an actor playing the Doctor. That was, to a degree, something that Tennant benefited from which Eccleston didn't - he was just too familiar to start with, although that was played for the show's benefit when it was being relaunched. Would a named actor be of as much benefit at this stage? I'm not so sure.

I can't say I'm too surprised it's someone I'd have never thought of in a million years.

The familiarity issue was also something that eant I never clicked with Peter Davison's Doctor as much as others - I knew him from other shows. But it's Davison who's obviously the inspiration for this choice of picking a very young actor - Moffat's Children in Need episode was pretty much a love song to Davison's Doctor ("You were MY Doctor!") and it was pretty obvious he wasn't going to go for an older Doctor, even if I would have liked to see that.

And I agree with you on the companions. I think they've exhausted contemporary earth for now. If they need to pop back to this setting, there's still Martha knocking about, along with Mickey and Jack and Sarah Jane, to give reasons to pay a visit.

[newnumber6.livejournal.com]

Yeah, unknown really isn't a bad thing, and for most of us in NA, almost anybody they picked would be relatively unknown to _us_, anyway (I think the only people who were even mentioned as contendors that I'd heard of enough to know without looking them up, were James McAvoy (because he was in Wanted), and Anthony Stewart Head. But I don't think either were ever even seriously considered. Oh, and Chiwetel Ejiofor).

But with all the speculation you kind of got to know, in a very limited sense, some of the major contenders, so it was a little bit of an extra surprise to see somebody who's name may have been on the list but wasn't really ever promoted as a likely choice.

The young thing is a bit more of an issue to me, turning it from the not unexpected 'who?' to the slight disappointment. I know Moffat was quoted (pre-new series, when he was still just a fan and had nothing to do with production) once as having wanted an older actor, so I was hoping that it might come through... maybe not _that_ old, but a little less boyish looking than Tennant and maybe closer to Eccleston. Instead they he went the other direction, which also worries me that they're planning on continuing the 'companions are the Doctor's love interest' philosophy (though maybe they'll play against type and have a slightly older companion).

Of course, it's really hard to get a sense of the Doctor from the actor until you actually see them play. Maybe he'll be a little less goofy than Tennant and so seem older despite being physically younger. And of course, the companions seem to set the tone of the series as much as the Doctor, so I'm waiting for hints about them.