The Eleventh Doctor is the eleventh and current incarnation of the fictional character known as the Doctor, who appeared on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who beginning in 2010. Matt Smith plays this incarnation, replacing David Tennant's Tenth Doctor in the 2010 episode "The End of Time, Part Two".
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.
The Eleventh Doctor first appears in the final minutes of The End of Time (2010). The Tenth Doctor, succumbing to radiation poisoning, sets his TARDIS into orbit around the Earth and begins to regenerate. The regeneration energy causes the TARDIS's windows to shatter and the console room to burst into flames, parts of it even collapsing as a result. On regenerating, the Eleventh Doctor inspects his appearance — briefly panicking about his long hair in the belief that he has regenerated into a girl before innocently confirming otherwise — before realising that the TARDIS is crashing. He clings to the TARDIS console, shouting, "Geronimo!" as the TARDIS falls to Earth.
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, Alan Davies and James Nesbitt. The Daily Mail also reported the theories that two Doctors could be created—eventually proven to be correct—and that Tennant's announcement that he would leave in 2009 was a bluff to create a shock regeneration.
Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, with Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor (2009)
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 bookmaker's 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 Alonzo Frame in the 2007 Christmas special, "Voyage of the Damned"; and James McAvoy.
Although Steven Moffat expected to pick a middle-aged actor for the new Doctor, at 26 years old, Smith will be the youngest actor to portray the Doctor, three years younger than Peter Davison was at the time he began his role as the fifth Doctor. Smith was 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".
Smith's costume consists of a brown tweed jacket, rose shirt, dark brown braces, bow tie, rolled up navy trousers and black boots. A different coloured variation of this costume – still with the tweed jacket – can be seen in the trailer for Series 5; in addition, the trailer includes footage of the Doctor wearing the tattered suit of the Tenth Doctor in several scenes.
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 piratical 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.
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.
The Eleventh Doctor first appears in the final minutes of The End of Time (2010). The Tenth Doctor, succumbing to radiation poisoning, sets his TARDIS into orbit around the Earth and begins to regenerate. The regeneration energy causes the TARDIS's windows to shatter and the console room to burst into flames, parts of it even collapsing as a result. On regenerating, the Eleventh Doctor inspects his appearance — briefly panicking about his long hair in the belief that he has regenerated into a girl before innocently confirming otherwise — before realising that the TARDIS is crashing. He clings to the TARDIS console, shouting, "Geronimo!" as the TARDIS falls to Earth.
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, Alan Davies and James Nesbitt. The Daily Mail also reported the theories that two Doctors could be created—eventually proven to be correct—and that Tennant's announcement that he would leave in 2009 was a bluff to create a shock regeneration.
Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, with Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor (2009)
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 bookmaker's 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 Alonzo Frame in the 2007 Christmas special, "Voyage of the Damned"; and James McAvoy.
Although Steven Moffat expected to pick a middle-aged actor for the new Doctor, at 26 years old, Smith will be the youngest actor to portray the Doctor, three years younger than Peter Davison was at the time he began his role as the fifth Doctor. Smith was 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".
Smith's costume consists of a brown tweed jacket, rose shirt, dark brown braces, bow tie, rolled up navy trousers and black boots. A different coloured variation of this costume – still with the tweed jacket – can be seen in the trailer for Series 5; in addition, the trailer includes footage of the Doctor wearing the tattered suit of the Tenth Doctor in several scenes.
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 piratical 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.
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