New Who

When I read online that they were going to reveal the new Doctor Who on Saturday, I found myself to be unexpectedly rather excited. So much so that I found myself constantly flicking over from Liverpool’s match against Preston to catch the announcement on ‘Doctor Who Confidential’. And, it would have to be something very interesting to make me turn over from a Liverpool match.

I’m not entirely sure why I was so intrigued. I’ve watched and enjoyed the show since the re-launch, but I’m hardly in the category of enthusiast. I think it’s probably that, in the age of the internet, there are so few surprises for the TV fan. It seems like more people read previews and spoilers than watch the shows themselves. Sure, it would have been more thrilling for us to learn the identity of the new Doctor within the show itself, but this was the next best thing.

Throughout the programme, we were teased as to the identity of the esteemed actor, with the clues being that he was young, young and that he was 26 (which is young). I was a bit baffled; him being 26 ruled out all the bookmakers favourites. I just had my fingers crossed that they hadn’t totally sold out and hired a pretty boy type for such an iconic role.  When the moment of revelation actually came, I must admit I made no reaction; I had to actually wait until the caption came on screen before I was satisfied that this guy was actually the new Doctor and not just one of the crew talking about him.

Turning to my trusted friend, the IMDB, I soon discovered that Matt Smith is one of the most popular names on there, however, I didn’t find out what else he had been in. After a bit of digging, I found that not only was he the eleventh doctor, he was the eleventh Matt Smith on IMDB. That’s synchronicity for you. Overall my initial feelings were one of disappointment, mainly because if you don’t know the actor at all, then you can’t really play the game of imagining what he will bring to the part. Even an established actor that you didn’t like would still give you that dubious pleasure. But unlike some of the more rabid internet forum dwellers, I soon began to warm to the appointment.

Firstly, despite his age (yes, he’s 26, can we all get over it now please?), he definitely looks…interesting, and clearly hasn’t been chosen just as some vapid eye candy; there are a whole bunch of older actors who could of been hired with more obvious sex appeal. In short, let’s give the guy a chance.  Secondly, he was the clear choice of new show runner Steven Moffat, new Who’s best writer by a country mile, whose opinion you can’t help but trust on the matter.  If he doesn’t know who would make a good Doctor then I don’t know who would.

All in all, it’s made me want to see where they’re going to take it, we just have a frustrating wait until 2010 for that to happen.