An appraisal of Matt Smith on the eve of Doctor Who season 6
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Aneka's still not convinced...
It was 1st January 2010 when 26-year-old (at that time) Matt Smith first graced our TV screens amidst chaotic circumstances and a crashing TARDIS. Speculation bubbled among fans as to how on earth this actor in his late twenties could compete with legendary Time Lords such as Tom Baker or David Tennant. The few minutes of Smith where he checks out his new self and deals with the self-destructing TARDIS, shouting out ‘Geronimo’, managed to convince some viewers, yet disappoint others.
Nevertheless, that’s the Doctor Who pattern, isn’t it? You adore one Doctor - and are totally disheartened when he leaves - and raise an eyebrow at the sight of the new one. Then two weeks later, you’re into the new as well. Ad nauseum.
I remember watching Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor back in 2005 as a teenager, and snorted at the sight of the then 34-year-old Tennant clad in Eccleston’s black leather attire. However, after three episodes, like the majority of the public, I was captured by the Scotsman’s talent.
It 's been fourteen months since Tennant's departure and Smith's adoption of the mantle. In that time, has Matt Smith finally captivated us with the old Time Lord charm - or has he yet a long way to go?
Let’s start off with the Tenth Doctor. During Series 2-4 and the Doctor Who specials, Tennant re-engaged the audience with his good looks and comical acting, but some of the episodes from head scribe Russell T. Davies were badly-written; even that didn’t undermine public appreciation for Tennant’s talent, which got him quickly to the top of the 'All Time Best Doctors' list. For example, Tennant’s last episode ever is a strong case for this, since there were far better Doctor Who finale episodes than 'The End of Time'. Nevertheless, while putting up with the confusing and slow-paced episode, Tennant made it worth watching, despite criticism of being 'too human' - which is perhaps worth looking into...
Throughout his reign, no matter which or how many villains he encounters, the Tenth Doctor always – and I mean always – offers one chance for his opponent to take before actually taking matters into his own hands. For example, 'The Runaway Bride'; the Empress of Racnoss is offered such a chance before she throws it away. Surely, when you think about it, there are very few (if any) human beings who would willingly offer their nemeses so many chances before actually taking actual control of the situation. But does that make the Tenth Doctor’s personality human or not so human, considering Tennant's constant fascination at new discoveries and creatures, rambling about random things and always referring to us as ‘humans’,..? That seems pretty 'alien'..
When Smith popped on to the screens in a burning TARDIS, his approach was far different from Tennant's. Instead of having Tennant raising his eyebrows and confident in solving every dilemma with a joyful and energetic approach, Smith seems to be much more relaxed, but also less jolly and happy about facing challenges and problems. In his first episode, little Amy tugs the Eleventh Doctor to show him the cracks in her wall. When he sees them, he examines them in a sober and mature manner - preferable to Tennant’s overly-joyous approach.
In each episode, the Eleventh Doctor manages to integrate with the rest of the characters and then, half an hour into the story, they get along well with each other. This is quite different to Tennant’s constant haughty remarks about ‘little humans’ – a bit of a child-like scolding, don’t you think?
Similar to his predecessor, Smith wields an eccentric personality trait that ties him to the original concept of the Doctor, continuing with the non-sequiturs and earning himself the epithet ‘weird’ - which could be the reason why we may begin to warm to him just as we did to the previous Doctors.
All that notwithstanding, at the close of a Matt Smith Doctor Who episode, I cannot feel that satisfaction with the show that I used to. Perhaps, Smith does not have what it takes to sway loyal Who viewers to his side..? Perhaps season six will decide the 'floating voters'.
Smith’s Doctor is quite similar to the Tenth. However, both actors have their own styles of the eccentric time-traveller. While Tennant revelled in his glee at certain (usually challenging) situations, Smith takes the sombre ‘I can do it’ approach. Matt Smith has managed to shoot the arrow well, but perhaps not as far as Tennant did in his three years of TARDIS travelling. After all, the guy is the youngest actor to portray our Gallifrean hero, and we have only seen one series yet...
Also see:
Matt Smith - the best 'Doctor' since Tom Baker?
Doctor Who: What made Christopher Eccleston unique
Top 10 Doctor Whos
The ten most important characteristics of The Doctor
Picking apart the Doctor Who season six trailer
Doctor Who companions: The Ultimate Tournament
Doctor Who And The Electrans
EXCLUSIVE PIC: Sylvester McCoy playing The Doctor last week
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Sylvester McCoy on Hobbit, Minister Of Chance, Doctor Who
The literary TARDIS: The Target Doctor Who novelisations
Complete Doctor Who reviews
Bank of Doctor Who
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Comments
Tennant is great, but he's a big Shakespearian royalty type actor. He's got his feet planted and his shoulder's squared, and his eyes bulging, and his booming perfectly articulated voice reaching the back seats. Tennant will always nail the larger than life emotional moments better than Smith.
Smith's got more of a swagger and a smirk. He's a lot more measured and specific communication of what's going on in the Doctor's head. Smith's style fits the medium of television better. He also comes up with much more interesting line readings than Tennant. Tennant could never pull off 'there's an escaped fish' or the 'Fez are cool' business as well as Smith does.
I feel the exact opposite at the end of the 11th's Doctor's episodes as the author. I want keep hanging out with this nutty Doctor more than I ever wanted to with the 10th.
http://www.shadowlocked.com/20100502354/opinion-features/doctor-who-matt-smith-the-best-doctor-since-tom-baker.html
What we see with Matt Smith and Steven Moffat is more sophisticated acting and writing and yes, subtlety. Smith conveys more with his eyes alone than Tennant did with his entire body. Eccelston's Doctor was full or rage and a bit PTSD. Tennant's Doctor was still raging, but trying to hide it under gob. Smith's Doctor is coping with guilt - guilt over the time war, guilt over the things he did in his previous life, guilt over abandoning Amelia as a child. Matt portrays it beautifully and subtly. I would list HIM as one of the great Doctors.
As for matt smith, he is one of my all time favorite doctors ever, mixing eccentricity and heroicness so well, his superb oddness, his bow tie, his love for fezzes. in a christmas carol he jumped between kazrans sardyks life so well, as he jumped on little kazran's bed. 'your nanny only just went and won the lottery!"
'there is no lottery!'
'i know, what a women!'
And his ability to make scenes so intriguing and tense is amazing! we can take him seriously even with a fez and a protruding bow tie.
Tennant's Doctor seemed not only too human but pretty naive to some extent a hypocrite, e.g. he'd preach about how the end is something to be accepted and that nothing can last for ever, yet when he regenerated he all of sudden wouldn't accept it, the fact that the Doctor wouldn't sacrifice himself for Wilfred initially was completely out of character, as in stories such as Evolution of the Daleks and Forest of the Dead he attempted to sacrifice himself to save others with no hesitation and only didn't succeed because he was stopped, yet all of a sudden he doesn't want to in his regeneration story, it makes no sense, he lacked consistency, same with the whole 'I don't carry a gun' rubbish .
He was never really right for the role and only had the appeal and the success that he received for all the wrong reasons, making the Doctor an object of physical attraction by the fan base has messed with the appeal of the show and character, which is why many of the Tennant obsessive hate Matt Smith for 'not being attractive' as much as it was Tennant's dream to play the role, he was never really right for it, it takes a lot more than jut being a good actor, you have to have a natural alien eccentricity as a person as well as an actor, the Doctor has to be an extension of the actors personality rather than just simply be playing a role. Tennant was way too human and when ever he tried to do alien, it was minimal and contained, and when he did it, it didn't feel natural. With Smith however, he's naturally alien from the start, Matt was made for the role, Tennant just drew a crowd because of his high profile and good acting skills, I don't blame Tennant, I blame Russell T Davies for casting him.
Those Matt Smith haters are not fans of the show, Matt contextually channels natural alien quality of all the classic Doctor's and that in eyes of the true fans should be a good thing, there is literally no reason to hate him, yes you have the right to an opinion, but no true Doctor Who fan should hate Matt Smith, there is no fair reason too, the criticisms people have about him are never based on anything substantial and ironclad or have any fair reasoning behind them, unlike the criticisms of Tennant which have been picked up by many, however when ever the haters try to give a reason to hate Matt, the points they make can be counter claimed using past examples of the series before and why it isn't a bad thing, anyone can have an opinion, but you're opinions on the show are what make you a true Doctor Who fan, it's the show and the Doctor that counts, not who plays him.
Honestly, It's almost hard to remember back to Eccleston's amazing series. He brought a bit of gritty, a bit of pep, and a lot of that innate experience. Most of the time, it felt like he knew what was going on and that he could solve it. If the 9th Doctor didn't have a handle on things? Well, he got angry. He also had a bit of a quirkiness about him. Like a parent who didn't quite get the subtext or the status quo. Except with him it was "Earthly" things and mannerisms. This quirkiness really drove home his alien qualities. He was a very fatherly figure, in my opinion.
I could go on for hours about David Tennant; but, I wont. Of the three modern Doctors, Tennant has been my favorite. (I say my favorite, not 'the best', mind you)
He was an INCREDIBLE actor. You could see his emotions. You could get into the Doctor's mind! Tennant really brought the viewers closer to the Doctor. He was perfectly elitist, he held himself above the humans(as he should), and had that amazingly off-kilter, ready to explode with anger, joy, happiness, or sorrow at any moment. Tennant was my favorite because he progressed as a character. He wasn't the same damn guy after Rose, Martha, and Donna. He learned. Remember on the Waters of Mars? He had it! He remembered he was a damn time lord and interfered. It showed progression. We saw the raw emotions of the Doctor. The way he held himself and the way he approached every problem was just so alien! I would smile ear to ear whenever he lit up about some crazy once in lifetime (thats in timelord measurements) encounter.
Now I haven't had as much time to think about Matt Smith. . .but. . .i like him. He's different. He's oh so different; but, thats why I like him. I miss Tennant. . .almost as much as I miss Rose; but, Im slowly starting to warm up to Smith.
He doesn't have the conviction or elitist mentality that Tennant has, and, I think it makes him 'less alien' then Tennant was. His laidback, quizzical look is more human than Tennants vigilant, curious look. That being said, Matt Smith is an incredible 'face' actor. He convays so much in his countenance, it's incredible. The only problem I have with Smith is the stark attitude difference.
We can see the episdoe 'Cold Blood", how different the Dr.s are. *SPOILER* when the Dr finds out that the mother kills the Homo Reptilia hostage to save her family, Smith has a very odd reaction. He was angry but more apologetic to the leader of the Reptilia. He barely accosted the mother, only telling her at the end of the episode that she better raise her son better.
I feel like Eccleston's Doctor would have gotten in her face, taught her the whole lesson about being a better human, albeit at the top of his lungs, and reflected a bit on how humans keep letting him down or something.
You all and I both know Tennant's Doctor would've freaked out and accosted the hell out of her. I feel like he would almost give up right there on the humans!
In the end, we all have our favorites; but, each Doctor is different. Do we really need to say who's the best?
I don't think it's Matt's fault at all, really. But I was so completely underwhelmed with Series 5 from start to end that I haven't rewatched any episodes, much less felt excited about what's coming up.
Loved Tom Baker, loved Peter Davison, meh on Colin Baker, meh on Sylvester McCoy, wanted to see more of Gann. Loved Eccleston and Tennant. Everyone brings their own touch to the role, and they're so different that I don't think it's fair to compare who's better than the other.
Yet last series just fell flat to me. Perhaps I expected too much. Perhaps I had become over-exuberant.
But in some way, whether through the story writing or through Smith's performance - yes, there's something missing. Hopefully I'll find a way to connect with the show again.
That being said, I was disappointed that the 11th doctor was so young, talent and ability notwithstanding . Watching the series I have no problems with his acting, but would have preferred someone with a bit more visible time on his face. Overall, though, the acting ability can only do so much with the storylines and these seem be weaker. Amy, as the companion, seems to be less ... useful... and prone to speaking or repeating the obvious and even the stories themselves are less layered, even silly (I mean come on, the stone angels communicating? asking for help?), the dialogue definitely more simplistic and, at times, just plain lame. Can't blame the 11th Doctor for that but it doesn't help the overall impression and sense of Season 5 as being a weaker addition to the canon.
And yes, maybe Matt Smith is young. Yes, his Doctor is different to David Tennant's. But why is that bad?
Just like Tennant, and every actor who has portrayed the Doctor since 1963, Smith is bringing something new to the role. Maybe that something is his 'matureness' to approaching challenges. And why shouldn't he be? The Doctor is so old now. He has so much blood in his hand. And he didn't ask for that blood. He just wants to travel the universe, to see it. Not fight it.
And that's something that I believe Matt Smith does an excellent job in portraying. Have you seen his eyes? Matt Smith may be young, but his eyes are of someone who have lived for centuries. His eyes are so, so old, and it fits perfectly with his Doctor.
I love Matt Smith's Doctor - probably so far as to call him 'my' Doctor. But you know what? I love David Tennant's Doctor as well - so much that I would call him 'my' Doctor as well. They're two different actors, playing two different regenerations of the Doctor. And both of them are fantastic.
Matt is good for Doctor who. David had a lot of energy but was to modern and flashy for my liking. I think David put alot of energy into his role. I also think part of the problem with Davids storys were that the writing for a good many was terrible. The storys i like most of Davids time were the Cybermen story, the Family of Blood story and the Agatha Christie story. Part of the problem with Davids storys is the fact that the whole Rose thing was dragged out too far. She should have been killed off in the first series. Rose was a nauseating character.
I think Matt Smith can bring the balance back to the force. Doctor who is an alien not a human, and he is always been an outsider. Matt Smith could be in a crowd but he stands out as being different. That's an important element in Doctor whos character i think.
a) It never even crossed my mind to label him handsome( still don't think he is) . Personally, I prefer Matt Smith over him( perhaps they just aren' t conventionally good-looking and Mr. Smith is just more my style( speaking of style, have you seen the clothing he wears ? Me gusta .)).I think I got distracted.Oh well.
b)It has nothing to do with his acting ( Which is good, I guess, just very different fromSmith's.)
Mr. Smith gives you everything you need to figure him out.He just tries to hide ( as others before me have suggested, watch his eyes .It's like he has his brain, soul and emotions stashed up there.I could watch them all day (that's not weird, is it ?!). ;)
Really, I think Matt Smith is doing an excellent job (consider having to be the Doctor after the favorite of so many fans !). He has a strange charm , already familiar elements from former incarnations and different , odd-but-in-character components , that really work(s) for me.
Thank you.
Have nice day :D.