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Matt Smith (born 28th October 1982) portrays the Eleventh Doctor on Doctor Who. He made his debut in the part in DW: The End of Time, Part Two, first broadcast on 1 January 2010, and played the role throughout Series 5, which began airing in the UK on 3rd April 2010 and in North America and Australia the weekend of 17th-18th April 2010.
Aged 26 at the time of his casting, he is the youngest actor to date to officially portray the Doctor in Doctor Who, and the first to be born after the death of First Doctor William Hartnell .
It has been confirmed that Smith will return for a Christmas Special in 2010 (production began July 2010) and also a second series as the Doctor, scheduled to enter production in July 2010 with broadcast in 2011.[1] Before this, he is scheduled to play the Doctor in a two-part storyline for the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, which will air in late 2010.[2]
Biography
Early life
Smith grew up in Northampton and attended Northampton School for Boys, mocked for having a face "with elbows".[3]. He originally wanted to be a footballer but had to give up football after a back injury. Matt also supports Blackburn Rovers.[4] [3] After encouragement from his drama teacher he joined the National Youth Theatre. He studied at University of East Anglia, reading Drama and Creative Writing.
Career
He has also appeared opposite Billie Piper (who played former companion Rose Tyler) in The Ruby In The Smoke, The Shadow In The North, and Secret Diary Of A Call Girl. On stage, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for That Face in 2008. At 26 years of age, Smith is the youngest actor ever to have played the Doctor on television (a record held for more than a quarter-century by Peter Davison). Following the conclusion of contract negotiations around Christmas 2008, Smith's casting was formally announced during a special broadcast of Doctor Who Confidential on BBC1 on January 3rd, 2009. Smith began filming his first full episodes as the Doctor in late July 2009.
The exact date of when Smith was cast is uncertain. It is known that Russell T Davies was informed on or just before 10 December 2008[5], however during interviews conducted in March and April 2010 to promote Series 5, Smith repeatedly stated that he had to keep quiet about being cast for three months before the announcement, suggesting he may have been cast as early as October 2008. In this same publicity cycle, Smith has stated that he is committed to playing the role for a second year, but beyond that no decision has yet been made.
As noted above, Smith has begun to expand his portrayal of the Doctor beyond the main series. Besides appearing in an upcoming The Sarah Jane Adventures storyline, he has also voiced the character for a series of computer games entitled Doctor Who: The Adventure Games, and has also recorded narration on at least two audio books for BBC Audio.
External links
- Matt Smith at the Internet Movie Database
- Official London Theatre Guide, The Big Interview with Matt Smith
- (Fresh Face: Matt Smith) London.Broadway.com A 2007 interview with Matt Smith while in Swimming With Sharks
References
