Doctor Who Confidential: Season 4, Episode 15The Eleventh Doctor (3 Jan. 2009)A look at the previous ten Doctors, in which the identity of the upcoming Eleventh Doctor is officially revealed. |
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Doctor Who Confidential: Season 4, Episode 15The Eleventh Doctor (3 Jan. 2009)A look at the previous ten Doctors, in which the identity of the upcoming Eleventh Doctor is officially revealed. |
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| Episode cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Anthony Head | ... |
Himself - Narrator
(voice)
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Jane Tranter | ... |
Herself
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| David Tennant | ... |
Himself
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| Steven Moffat | ... |
Himself
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Julie Gardner | ... |
Herself
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| Christopher Eccleston | ... |
The Doctor
(archive footage)
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| Russell T. Davies | ... |
Himself
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| William Hartnell | ... |
The Doctor
(archive footage)
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| Patrick Troughton | ... |
The Doctor
(archive footage)
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| Jon Pertwee | ... |
The Doctor
(archive footage)
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| Elisabeth Sladen | ... |
Herself
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Piers Wenger | ... |
Himself
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| Tom Baker | ... |
The Doctor
(archive footage)
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| Peter Davison | ... |
The Doctor
(archive footage)
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Colin Baker | ... |
The Doctor
(archive footage)
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A look at the previous ten Doctors, in which the identity of the upcoming Eleventh Doctor is officially revealed.
January the third 2009 is a date that saw the world holding its breath . Months of speculation were about to come to ahead . David Tennant was leaving DOCTOR WHO and everyone was shuddering as to who would replace Scotland's answer to Dick Van Dyke in the title role . The signs weren't good . For months speculation was that we'd be seeing the first ever black Doctor in the shape of Paterson Joseph . Would the audience be ready for Joseph ? Would Joseph break the habit of a lifetime and actually invest in acting lessons ? Would Joseph's career be cut short in the meantime by a fatal attack of woodworm ? We'd have to wait and see
The day dawned and news outlets such as Sky and the BBC evening news gave a shortlist of contenders , all of which had Paterson Joseph as a near certainty for the title role . One could only hope against hope , especially since Joseph had effectively been written out of SURVIVORS where his character was shot and left dying in a pool of sawdust . DOCTOR WHO CONFIDENTIAL was broadcast immediately after the BBC news and right away it was revealed that the actor playing the Doctor would be the youngest ever . Orgasmic euphoria swept over me when that ruled out Joseph . However that brought about a post coital headache when I realised we wouldn't be seeing Robert Carlyle , James Nesbitt , David Morrisey or Chiwetel Ejiofor in the role
My thoughts were broken by the amount of hype spewing out of the mouths of the interviewees . Jane Tranter , Russell T Davies , Steven Moffatt and David Tennant were all unanimous that the show would go from strength to strength under this actor . RTD especially was falling over himself in the sycophancy stakes : " Oh when I heard he'd been cast I was soooooooo jealous " . Then the new Doctor was revealed as : Matt Smith
At this point millions of people across the globe shouted out the title of their favourite show . Well the second half of the title as we were introduced to somebody nobody outside of the Matt Smith household had never heard of before . In fact I was shocked Smith was clean shaven since he's so unknown I doubt if he'd be able to recognise himself in the mirror in the morning
So what are we to take from this casting ? Perhaps the fact that Moffat who has set himself up as a radical and iconoclastic scriptwriter and producer has made the safest casting choice in the history of television by casting a 20 something pretty boy in the title role of DOCTOR WHO . I bet he'll even have a home counties accent . One of the great strengths of the show is that the incarnations of the doctors have all been different , no more so than the cross over from Eccleston's Byronic northerner into Tennant's lightweight zany southern geezer
But the true test will come in 2010 when Matt Who becomes Doctor Who . Looking on the bright side when the 11th doctor kisses one of his companions his co-star won't have to worry about getting splinters on her lips which wouldn't have been the case if Paterson Joseph got the gig