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Template:Fix bunching Template:Fix bunching The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh and current incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two". As of 2010, the BBC has confirmed that Smith is to appear in at least two series, the first of which began on 3 April 2010.

Within the series' narrative, The Doctor is a centuries-old alien, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, who travels in time and space in his TARDIS, frequently with companions. When the Doctor is critically injured, he can regenerate his body but in doing so gains a new physical appearance and with it, a distinct new personality. Smith portrays the eleventh such incarnation, a quick-tempered but compassionate man whose youthful appearance is at odds with his more discerning and world-weary temperament.

Overview

Although Steven Moffat expected to pick a middle-aged actor for the new Doctor, at 27 years old, Smith is the youngest actor to portray the Doctor, two years younger than Peter Davison was at the time he began his role as the fifth Doctor.

Casting

Speculation about the identity of the Eleventh Doctor began on 28 June 2008; the penultimate episode of the fourth series, "The Stolen Earth", ended as the Doctor was regenerating after being shot by a Dalek's death ray. The lack of a trailer for the second part, "Journey's End", prompted media and public speculation which helped Doctor Who attain the highest position in the weekly ratings in the show's history. The rumoured replacements included Catherine Tate (then playing the Doctor's companion Donna Noble), Robert Carlyle, Jason Statham, David Morrissey, Alan Davies and James Nesbitt. The Daily Mail also reported the theories that two Doctors could be created—eventually proven to be correct.

Tennant announced at the National Television Awards on 29 October 2008 that he would be stepping down from portraying the Doctor because he felt that the four years he spent portraying the character was enough and to ease the transition from Russell T Davies' showrunning to Steven Moffat's. At the time, BBC News published that Paterson Joseph, who appeared in the Doctor Who episodes "Bad Wolf" and "The Parting of the Ways", was the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Tennant and if chosen would become the first black Doctor, followed by David Morrissey, who would be appearing in the 2008 Christmas special, "The Next Doctor". Other candidates included Sean Pertwee, son of Third Doctor actor Jon Pertwee; Russell Tovey, who portrayed Alonso Frame in the 2007 Christmas special, "Voyage of the Damned"; and James McAvoy.

The Doctor is a very special part, and it takes a very special actor to play him. You need to be old and young at the same time, a boffin and an action hero, a cheeky schoolboy and the wise old man of the universe. As soon as Matt walked through the door, and blew us away with a bold and brand new take on the Time Lord, we knew we had our man."

Smith was, however, one of the first actors to audition for the role, and the production team immediately singled him out based on his performance. Show producers were cautious about casting him because they felt that a 26-year-old could not play the Doctor adequately; BBC Wales Head of Drama Piers Wenger shared the sentiment, but noted that Smith was capable enough to play the role. Smith's casting in the role was revealed during an episode of Doctor Who's companion show Doctor Who Confidential, during which he described the role as "a wonderful privilege and challenge that I hope I will thrive on".

Appearances

Television

The Eleventh Doctor first appears in the final minutes of The End of Time (2010) when his previous incarnation violently regenerates, causing serious damage to the TARDIS and sending it crashing down to Earth. He debuts fully in "The Eleventh Hour", where he meets Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) after investigating the mysterious crack in her wall as child. Amy agrees to join the Doctor as his travelling companion on the eve of her marriage to Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill). In "Victory of the Daleks", he is tricked into spawning a new generation of Daleks, and re-encounters future companion River Song (Alex Kingston) and powerful enemies the Weeping Angels in two-parter "The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone", where they uncover that cracks like the one in Amy's wall are erasing individuals wholecloth from time and space. Following Amy's attempted seduction of the Doctor, Rory becomes the Doctor's second assistant from "The Vampires of Venice" up until "Cold Blood", where he is killed by a Silurian and absorbed by a crack. The Doctor confronts his dark side and self-hatred in "Amy's Choice", where he is put through trials by the Dream Lord (Toby Jones), a manifestation of the Doctor's self-loathing for his arrogance, selfishness and lust. In finale episodes "The Pandorica Opens" and "The Big Bang", friends of the Doctor from the 2010 series communicate a message to him. Vincent van Gogh (Tony Curran) paints a psychic message of the TARDIS exploding, which passes from Winston Churchill (Ian McNeice) to Queen Elizabeth X (Sophie Okonedo), before reaching the Doctor via River Song. An alliance of the Doctor's greatest enemies seal him in the 'Pandorica', an inescapable prison. When the TARDIS explodes, a new timeline is created where the Earth is the only planet in a universe without stars. The Doctor is freed by a plastic replicant of Rory, and travels using River's vortex manipulator to 1996 where he uses the Pandorica to resurrect the universe, seal the cracks, and undo their effects. Although the Doctor is himself wiped from time and space, he returns when Amy is able to remember him, appearing at her wedding to Rory, who is alive in the new timeline. The three take off together for new adventures. The Eleventh Doctor is set to appear later in 2010 in Death of the Doctor, a two-part story of spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, alongside former companions Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Jo Grant (Katy Manning).

Literature

Like the Tenth Doctor, the Eleventh appears in New Series Adventures novels in 2010 alongside Amy. The first of these is Apollo 23 by Justin Richards, as well as the Decide Your Destiny series of interactive novels. The character also appears in comic books published in Doctor Who Magazine, Doctor Who Adventures, and he is set to take over from the Tenth Doctor in IDW Publishing's ongoing Doctor Who series.

Audio drama

The Eleventh Doctor also appears in a series of audio books. The first of these is The Hounds of Artemis by James Goss.

Video games

The Eleventh Doctor is the first of the Doctors to appear in full-on action adventure games. Doctor Who: The Adventure Games is composed of four stories ("episodes"), produced alongside the 2010 series. Smith and Gillan lend their voice and likeness. The first, "City of the Daleks", carries on from TV episode "Victory of the Daleks" and is a stealth and puzzle game set in 1960s Earth and the Dalek planet of Skaro. The second, "Blood of the Cybermen", is Eleven and Amy's first Cyberman story; these Cybermen, ones frozen in the Artic tundra, are the first reappearance of Cybermen of the originals series from the planet Mondas.

Appearance

The Eleventh Doctor spends most of his first full episode, "The Eleventh Hour" in the tattered remains of the Tenth Doctor's costume. As a result of his time traveling during the episode, for twelve years, young Amelia Pond remembers, draws, and plays make-believe games about "The Raggedy Doctor", whom she met as a child.

Near the end of "The Eleventh Hour" the Doctor acquires his clothes from the hospital's changing-room, raiding the lockers for a new outfit before his final confrontation with the episode's antagonists, defending the 'theft' on the grounds that he just saved Earth for "the millionth time". His third incarnation similarly stole his new costume from a hospital locker room in Spearhead from Space, as did the Eighth Doctor in Doctor Who.

The Doctor's outfit is a brown tweed jacket with elbow patches, bow tie, braces, rolled up trousers and black boots. He frequently refers to his affection for bow ties, often proclaiming "Bow ties are cool." The Doctor habitually varies the details of the outfit, switching from a shirt, braces and bow tie combination in shades of red to the same in shades of blue.

In The Big Bang, the Doctor briefly dons a fez, stating, "Fezzes are cool", however the fez is destroyed before the end of the episode. At the episode's conclusion, he attends Amy and Rory's wedding, dressed for the occasion in a white tie ensemble, complete with a top hat and silk evening scarf.

In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Steven Moffat revealed that the Eleventh Doctor had an entirely different costume until close to the start of filming. The original look had a swashbuckling feel which Benjamin Cook described as "a little like something Captain Jack Sparrow wears in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies". However, Matt Smith was unhappy with the costume as he felt it reflected how someone else would dress the Doctor, rather than how the Doctor would dress himself. The eventual costume, in particular the bow-tie, was influenced by Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor, after Matt Smith fell in love with the Troughton story The Tomb of the Cybermen.

References

1. "Last script for the doctor". Scotland on Sunday. 5 April 2009. Retrieved 21 April 2009. The final two episodes will be broadcast over the Christmas period and conclude with David Tennant's regeneration into Matt Smith
2. ^ "The Eleventh Doctor". Doctor Who Confidential. Episode 15. 3 January 2009. BBC. BBC One. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |episodelink= (help); Unknown parameter |seriesno= ignored (|series-number= suggested) (help)
3. "Doctor Who assistant is unveiled". BBC News. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-29.
4. "Doctor Who Confidential - Series 5 - 7. Arthurian Legend". BBC iPlayer. 2010-05-08. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
5. "Arthur Darvill talks 'Doctor Who'". Digital Spy. 2010-05-04. Retrieved 2010-05-29.
6. "New Doctor actor is youngest ever". BBC News. 4 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
7. "'Doctor Who' confirmed for Xmas, sixth series". Digital Spy. 18 March 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
8. "'Doctor Who' airdate officially confirmed". Digital Spy. 19 March 2010.
9. Lewinski, John Scott (3 January 2009). "Announces Matt Smith as Next Doctor Who". Wired. Retrieved 2 January 2010.
10. Writer Russell T. Davies, Director Graeme Harper, Producer Phil Collinson (28 June 2008). "The Stolen Earth". Doctor Who. BBC. BBC One. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help)
11. Hilton, Matt (16 July 2008). "Journey's End - Officially Number One". Outpost Gallifrey. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
12. Doctor Who: Robert Carlyle tipped to replace David Tennant Nicole Martin. Daily Telegraph. 30 June 2008
13. James Nesbitt: the new Doctor Who? Jason Deans. The Guardian. 2 August 2007
14. Revoir, Paul (5 July 2008). "Dr Who fever sweeps nation as 10million fans prepare to tune in for finale". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 3 January 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
15. "David Tennant quits as Doctor Who". BBC News. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
16. Who favourite talks Time Lords Tim Masters. BBC News Online. 20 November 2008
17. Sean Pertwee keen on 'Doctor Who' role Ben Rawson-Jones. Digital Spy. 2 December 2007
18. Stage actor Russell Tovey tipped as the eleventh Doctor Who Lucy Cockroft. Daily Telegraph. 16 September 2008
19. "Doctor Who: The runners and the riders". BBC News. 30 October 2008. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
20. ^ "Matt Smith is the New Doctor". BBC Press Office. 3 January 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2009.
21. "The Doctor and Jo Grant join CBBC's The Sarah Jane Adventures in special episodes written by Russell T Davies". BBC Press Office. 2010-04-19. Retrieved 2010-04-19.
22. "His time has come: New Doctor Who Matt Smith begins filming with his gorgeous young redheaded assistant". The Daily Mail. 20 July 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2009. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
23. Doctor Who Magazine issue 418, 3 February 2010

External links

• The Eleventh Doctor on the BBC's Doctor Who Series 4 website
• The Eleventh Doctor on the BBC's Doctor Who Series 5 website
• Eleventh Doctor on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki

• Doctor Who Doctors