Summary

• Always being known as Doctor Who is amazing, says Matt Smith, who initially had fears of being only known for the role.
• Smith's dedication to the role helped Doctor Who reach new heights.
• Despite initial apprehensions, Smith fondly remembers his time on Doctor Who and is open to a return to the show.

Matt Smith reflects on his decision to join Doctor Who despite early fears about taking on the role. Following David Tennant's tenure, Smith led the series from 2010 to 2013. Across three seasons and the show's 50th anniversary special, Smith's Eleventh Doctor faced the end of the universe, an elaborate plot to take his life, the mystery of a woman he kept meeting across history, and his darkest hour.

While a new Doctor's adventures are dawning with Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor Who season 14, Smith opened up to BBC News about the start of his own adventures with the TARDIS, and his apprehensions about taking on the role.

While Smith did have some reservations about being associated with the role at such a young age, the actor was ultimately glad that he accepted the part. Check out Smith's full recollection below:

"I was young and sort of foolish, I'm still foolish, I'm just older. I thought, well, y'know, would I always just be Doctor Who? And then, I realized actually, always being Doctor Who is amazing. It's a great thing. It's still one of the great pleasures of my life. I'm so, so proud of that."

Matt Smith's Run Helped Doctor Who Reach New Heights

Smith's apprehension about playing the Doctor is understandable, given his lack of prior experience with the franchise ahead of being cast. The actor has revealed in interviews that he had no experience with Doctor Who, but would nevertheless look to the classic era, particularly Patrick Troughton's surviving Second Doctor stories, to pull inspiration for how he would craft the Eleventh Doctor. Smith's dedication would not go to waste, as his era would see the series reach new heights.

Fresh off the heels of the popularity of Tennant's era, Eleven's arrival saw Doctor Who grow exponentially. With Smith's first full season with season 5, the gap between the show's UK and US airings shortened, as BBC America handled distribution and allowed the show to air on the same day in both countries. When paired with growing discussions on social media sites such as Twitter and Tumblr, as well as hype for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary, the sci-fi series became immensely popular and more recognizable in pop culture than it had been before.

With his celebrated performance as the endearing, youthful but weary Eleven during a period of great growth, Smith has become one of the most recognizable actors to take on the role. As such, it is hard to imagine Doctor Who without his involvement, with many keen to see the actor take up the keys to the TARDIS once more. Despite his apprehensions about the role and the other significant parts he has taken on since, it is clear that Smith will always remember when the Doctor was him fondly.

Smith's episodes can be streamed through Max's Doctor Who collection, while season 14 is set to air in May on Disney+ for US viewers, and BBC One/BBC iPlayer for UK audiences.

Source: BBC News/Twitter