All of time and space, everything that ever happened or ever will...
Where do you want to start?
- Alex: Who is the Doctor? - Are you from another planet?
- Yeah. So what do you think? - What?
Other planets. Want to check some out?
- Alex: Who is Matt Smith? - There was a backlash when I was cast.
I was 26 and I was unknown. People went, "That is not Doctor Who."
You know, "Doctor Who is older and he's someone we know, at least."
Alex: In the next hour, spoilers will fly as we take a loving look back
at this intriguing performer and the iconic character he has played
for the past three seasons,
the hero of one of the world's most beloved television shows.
You might want to find something to hang onto.
(Explosion)
♪
Synced by err0001 & Reef www.addic7ed.com
Doctor Who Farewell to Matt Smith
Doctor Who premiered 50 years ago, with a premise both simple and vast -
an alien called the Doctor can travel anywhere in all of space and time,
and he takes human companions along on his adventures.
Your box is a spaceship!
It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space!
It's almost a genre mistake to call it science fiction.
It doesn't look like those shows.
Doctor Who is about an amazing, funny, heroic, colourful character,
and it's accessible to people who wouldn't normally
watch this kind of nonsense at all.
Alex: The premise has remained the same all these years,
as 11 different actors have assumed the role of the last Time Lord.
One of the most magical things about the Doctor
is the chance to make it entirely new again.
So the Doctor doesn't just regenerate
in the sense that he becomes alive again, he becomes a different person.
Alex: Each performer has brought his own distinctive take to the role,
his own look, his own personality.
I don't want to go.
The act of regeneration wipes the slate clean in terms of personality,
so you're allowed and indeed expected to kind of bring something different
and something of your own to it.
Alex: In 2009, the TARDIS keys passed from David Tennant
to a relative unknown, named Matt Smith,
the youngest actor ever to play the role.
I remember very vividly the day that Matt came on set for the first time.
There was a sense of occasion about it,
and people, executive producers were arriving and...
I know!
...Apparently busloads of people were coming up from London.
- Busiest studio ever! - When Tennant regenerates
and then there's Matt Smith, and there's this kind of young-looking
New Wave guy with the coif, I'm like,
"Eh, who is this guy, why is he wearing David Tennant's clothes?"
There's always the fear and distrust with any regeneration,
where it's like, "Oh, I really came to like that dude and now he's gone."
It's sort of like, "You're not my real dad."
- (Laughs) Crashing! - It was a huge pressure,
but huge pressures and creativity can be quite a good combination.
Alex: Matt had the role, but Number 11 still faced a serious question -
Would the fans accept him?
- And, action. - Hang on, I know what I need.
I need, I need, I need... Fish fingers and custard.
I think Matt Smith really won me over when he's dipping this,
like, fish stick in this bowl of custard and he slurps it all up,
and this little girl's just looking at him with these wide eyes,
like, "This guy's insane."
And you're like, "Oh, this is gonna be fun."
- What's your name? - Amelia Pond.
Oh, that's a brilliant name. "Amelia Pond."
Like a name in a faerie tale.
Fish fingers and custard. It's so well-crafted and tight
and funny and everything that is Doctor Who.
By the end of the first episode with Matt, I was like, "Oh, I love this guy."
It was very hard, after watching that first episode, to remain sceptical.
You wanted to, 'cause you felt loyal to Doctor number ten, but he just
charmed the pants off of millions of Doctor Who fans in his first appearance.
I think that Matt Smith was born to play the Doctor.
I think it's such perfect casting in every way.
The way he looks, the way he conducts himself, his use of vocabulary,
everything screams that character.
Alex: Each new incarnation of the Doctor has found his own look.
For Matt Smith, dressing the part wasn't exactly easy.
In the case of Matt Smith's costume,
it was a long and vexed process, which went for weeks.
In the last hour of the last day, Matt was saying, "Can I put a bowtie on?"
And I said, "No, absolutely not."
"Under no circumstances are you putting a bowtie on."
And so he put on a bowtie, and it was just the moment it just suddenly looked right.
Hello. I'm the Doctor.
He just looked great.
And he was suddenly terribly happy, and leaping around the room
and pretending his pen was a sonic screwdriver.
So that's what we wanted. That was the magic of it.
(Whoosh)
It is no coincidence that bowties made a comeback in our culture after Doctor Who.
I see people wearing bowties now. There are bowties in stores
and I know for a fact that was not happening before Matt's Doctor.
- Bowties are cool. - Are you from another planet?
- Yeah. - 'Kay...
- So what do you think? - What?
Other planets, wanna check some out?
- What does that mean? - It means, well, it means...
Come with me.
- Where? - Wherever you like.
Alex: Once his look was sorted out,
the eleventh Doctor was ready to face the Universe in style.
But he didn't have to face it all alone.
Like every Doctor before him, number eleven found a human companion...
A beautiful female companion.
The Doctor/companion relationship evolves on and off screen.
It's always a very interesting process. It sort of bonds you in a strange way.
- Why me? - Why not?
No, seriously, you are asking me to run away with you in the middle of the night.
- It's a fair question - why me? - Don't know, fun.
- Do I have to have a reason? - People always have a reason.
- Do I look like people? - I mean, me and Matt in real life
went through the craziest transition of our lives,
because we were obscure and unknown before we got the roles,
and then like overnight, everybody knew who we were all of a sudden.
Hello, everything!
(Both laughing)
It was a huge amount of pressure, because essentially we were, like,
carrying on this great British tradition.
It was like a cultural phenomenon in our hands.
More so in his hands. He had the brunt of it.
(Yelling)
I sort of look back, and it's one of the things that cemented
a great friendship with me and Karen, and Arthur,
was that we really had to sort of hold hands together
and go through it together.
(Yelling)
Whoo!
I think it's really easy to sort of think that,
because they're having so much fun whilst they're working on this show
that they're not also the most incredibly hard-working
actors in the business, and they really are.
(Explosion)
Alex: Amy Pond had all the qualities the Doctor's companion needs,
and she had something else, too - a fiancé.
It's a lot to take in, isn't it? Tiny box, huge room inside, what's that about?
- Let me explain... - It's another dimension?
It's basically another dimensi... What?
I've been reading up on all the latest scientific theories.
FTL travel, parallel universes...
I like the bit when someone says it's bigger on the inside.
- I always look forward to that. - I had the best time!
I had such a good time working with Matt and Arthur.
(Yelling)
(Screaming)
- (Snarling) (Metal scraping)
(Whoosh)
And we would just be so silly.
That was also a way of us staying in character, I think,
even when we weren't shooting.
Like, we would have this sort of strange, jolly time,
but it was a way of keeping the energy up, 'cause it was a long shooting day
and we'd be all day, every day.
"Karen Gillan's timeless trends."
"Fiery Karen shows us how to do retro chic with an edgy modern twist."
Shut up!
This is simply the best job I've done in my career,
and most of it's to do with the people that I've had the honour to work with.
Myself, Matt and Karen have become dear, dear friends, and we'll never lose touch.
Hey, look at this. Got my spaceship, got my boys, my work here is done.
(Scoffs)
Uh, we are not her boys.
- Yeah, we are. - Yeah, we are, yeah.
So much to do with acting's about trusting people,
and we just trusted each other implicitly.
So we couldn't really surprise each other during scenes,
and we know that the other person will really go with it.
(Whoosh)
There's a scene where Matt kissed me...
Doesn't the ship have any defence systems installed?
Good thinking, Rory!!
Computer, show us weapons and defence systems.
(Laughs)
I think he just did it... he didn't tell me he was going to do it, he just did it.
I probably laughed the first time he did it,
and then it's like, "Right, next time you do it, I definitely can't laugh."
There's been so many incredible moments that we've all shared,
and I don't think it will quite dawn on us
how amazing it's been until we actually leave.
Alex: Another profound change came to the Doctor's life
with the arrival of someone completely unique.
You might want to find something to hang onto.
(Beeping)
♪
Alex: River Song. She's an archaeologist, time-traveller, TARDIS pilot,
detective, and the Doctor's future wife... or is it past wife?
Marriage is so complicated...
I just wanted something huge about her arrival in the TARDIS,
and she flies out of a spaceship and actually flies in the TARDIS
and falls on top of the Doctor.
I did not know Matt very well...
We'd only really sort of worked together for two or three days...
And it was the first intimate moment that we actually had,
and I kneed him in the nuts.
(Laughing)
River!
Oh, kneeling on me knackers.
(Both laughing)
I just sort of thought, "Well, we'll be firm friends after that."
(Laughs)
So I'm sorry, Matt.
River?
Follow that ship.
(Whoosh)
She's always got to arrive in the Doctor's life in some mad way.
River Song beguiles, infuriates,
endears, and turns the Doctor on all at the same time.
You haven't landed.
Of course we've landed. I just landed her.
- But... it didn't make the noise. - What noise?
You know, the...
(Imitates wheezing)
It's not supposed to make that noise. You leave the brakes on.
Yeah, well, it's a brilliant noise. I love that noise.
When she comes through the door, you know trouble is gonna follow her.
Like all great women.
Alex: Coming up, the Doctor dons the hat that launched a million cosplays.
More spoilers ahead.
♪
Alex: When Matt Smith took over the lead role in Doctor Who,
he brought the beloved series new energy, new companions,
and a new sense of style.
Number eleven also had a predilection for strange headgear.
The fez has been a real hit.
When you go to ComicCon and stuff, the fez is a thing that everyone's wearing.
Curiously enough, he is associated so much with a fez
that he's worn for about eight minutes on screen.
I'm always asking Steven for different bits of costume, because I like clothes.
The great thing about the Doctor is that he's allowed to look just stupid,
so he wears a fez; he looks a bit of an idiot in it, but it doesn't matter.
He will never take the fez off again. Matt will never get rid of the fez,
and so I say, "Okay, I'm going to have River burn it."
What in the name of sanity have you got on your head?
It's a fez. I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool.
Oh!
I loved the fez. I literally... it was like,
"Can I have the fez back, can we get the fez in again?"
Which was why he used to start blowing it up and stuff,
'cause he knew I liked it. That's what Steven does.
Alex: Ah, the TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space.
And as you may have heard...
- It's bigger on the inside. - Yeah, you get used to it.
The TARDIS, quite literally, is the most magic box in the Universe.
By all the...!
Let me stop you there, bigger on the inside.
Don't mind if we just skip to the end of that moment?
Apparently, there is a TARDIS manual that Matt got given
when he first joined the show, so he knows, or he pretends to know,
what every single button does on the TARDIS.
- What's this do? - That does very very complicated,
that does sophisticated, that does, whoa,
amazing, and that does whiz, bang, far too technical to explain.
The TARDIS has an instinct, and the Doctor is linked to the TARDIS.
He can feel it. If she feels something, he feels that as well.
It's a very organic relationship they have.
They are one and the same thing, the Doctor and the TARDIS.
- It's an appliance. It does a job. - Yes, pretty cool appliance!
We're not talking cheese grater here!
You're not getting me to talk to your ship. That's probably bonkers.
(Soothing) It's okay, it's okay.
Ugh, you're like one of those guys
who can't go out with a girl unless his mother approves.
The truth is, if you want to see the lifelong love of the Doctor's life,
it's definitely the TARDIS.
Alex: For generations, the monsters of Doctor Who
have haunted viewers' dreams, and the Matt Smith era
has brought a chilling array of new evil creatures
from the twisted, fertile mind of Steven Moffat.
Clara, the more you think about the snowmen, the more they appear.
Picture it. Picture them melted!
(Whoosh) Very good!
Alex: Which monster does number eleven fear the most?
- Don't blink. - Doctor...
It's coming out of the television. The Angel is here.
Don't take your eyes off it, keep looking, it can't move if you're looking!
The Weeping Angels, I think they're one of my favourites.
Nobody move, everyone stay exactly where they are.
I am truly sorry, I've made a mistake and we're all in terrible danger.
They can be completely still, and they're not that dangerous
when they're still, but then, voom, turn your back for...
A quarter of a millisecond, and you are mincemeat.
They're here. In the dark, we're finished.
(Alarm sounding) Incoming!
(Gunfire)
They are brutal and fierce, and they take no prisoners whatsoever.
Alex: The eleventh Doctor also faced classic monsters from the past.
In fact, he squared off against the most formidable Daleks ever seen.
- It is the Doctor! - Exterminate!
Wait, wait, wait. I wouldn't if I were you.
TARDIS self-destruct, and you know what that means.
My ship goes, you all go with it.
He's facing the Daleks, and for those of you who don't know the Doctor,
it's quite an interesting insight to who he is.
He just happens to have a Jammie Dodger in his pocket.
Ah ah ah ah ah, no scans, no nothing.
One move and I'll destroy us all, you got that?
Good boy...
A Jammie Dodger is a biscuit that you have with tea.
It's a biscuit with jam and cream in the middle.
So he gets the Jammie Dodger out and goes, "Look, I've got a bomb,"
"and if I press this bomb the whole world's gonna explode,"
"and you can't look at it that long 'cause it's not really a bomb, it's a biscuit."
I'm really pleased, actually, because Tom Baker had sort of jelly babies,
and each Doctor can sometimes have a thing, and my Doctor has Jammie Dodgers.
And I've always loved them, actually, as a kid, so it's good.
And eventually he just goes, "Ah," and eats it, and runs off.
But that's what he's constantly doing;
he's using his sort of mad mental mind to buy himself time.
He can save the world with a piece of string, a Jammie Dodger and a raccoon.
Alex: When you live a thousand years and you have a blue box
that can take you any place in time and space,
you're bound to have some very unusual experiences.
Trust me.
I'm the Doctor.
One of my favourite sequences in Matt's Doctor is with the two Doctors,
acting with each other, and he has good timing with himself,
and it's just really, really funny.
- How can you both be real? - Well, because, we are.
- I'm the Doctor. - And so am I.
We both contain the knowledge of over 900 years' of memory and experience.
We both wear the same bowtie, which is cool.
- Because bowties are. - And always will be.
Matt's performance in The Almost People is pretty amazing,
because obviously he's either acting to a stand-in or a dot on a stick
or whatever, and that's like... that's kind of death to comedy,
to just be throwing out one line at a time
and, you know, with no actual interaction going on.
- Are you thinking what I'm thinking? - Inevitably.
- I'm glad we're on the same... - Wavelength. See, great minds.
- Exactly. So, what's the plan? - Save them all, humans and Gangers.
- Tall order, sounds wonderful. - Is that what you were thinking?
Yes, it's just so inspiring to hear me say it.
It's a real virtuoso performance that he gives.
- So, what now, Doctor? - Well, time to get cracking, Doctor.
Alex: Yes, the Doctor has evil enemies aplenty, but coming up,
you'll see that he's really quite good at making friends as well.
♪
Alex: Matt Smith took on one of the world's most iconic television roles
when he became the eleventh Time Lord on Doctor Who.
Geronimo!!
He also took on a universe full of enemies, old and new.
From its beginning, Doctor Who has been a kids' show for adults
and an adult show for kids. Children are central to the Doctor's universe,
on screen and off.
- Who are you? - I'm the Doctor.
A doctor? Have you come to take me away?
No, George, I just want to talk to you.
What about?
About the monsters.
It's funny to see kids come on and how shy they get as well
and totally in awe, because he's such a hero to them.
So what's it been like working with Matt Smith, then?
Very nice. He's a very funny chap.
I like children. They're always excited to meet the character.
And sometimes with adults, it's not always about meeting the Doctor,
it's about, "Oh, there's that guy from Doctor Who,"
but kids, they're like, "Wow, the Doctor's there!"
(Cheering) Woman: Wow!
- Can you say, "Exterminate!" - Exterminate.
Yay, there you go.
I like children, they're cool.
They're honest and they're frank and they're funny
and they're not afraid to be themselves,
and I think that's something that we lose as we get older.
Tell Matt what you were wearing on the train on the way down.
- I was wearing a fez. - No, you weren't! A fez...?
She's six years old, and she's liked Doctor Who since she's been five.
- No way, that's a whole year! - Yeah!
Alex: Number eleven is ruthless with bad guys,
but with good guys, he's a first-rate friend...
Even if you didn't exactly invite him into your life.
I'm your new lodger.
Have some rent. That's probably quite a lot, isn't it? Looks like a lot.
Is it a lot?
This is just how hellish it would be to have the Doctor as your flatmate.
And then, once the Doctor became Matt Smith, just the idea
of Matt's Doctor trying to pass himself off as an ordinary young geezer
for a week in someone's flat seemed even funnier.
All I've got to do is pass as an ordinary human being.
- Simple. What could possibly go wrong? - Amy: Have you seen you?
So you're just gonna be snide, no helpful hints?
Hmm, well, here's one.
- Bowtie, get rid. - Bowties are cool.
The Doctor has gone out on a mission into the real world.
Tell me what normal blokes do.
They watch telly, they play football, they go down the pub.
I could do those things. I don't, but I could.
It's such a side-step for the series, because you're used to us
going to exotic locales, lots of CGI and big rubber monsters,
and here we are, basically, in a flat.
We're in a flatshare sitcom starring the Doctor.
Football! Okay, well done, that is normal.
Yeah, football, all outdoorsy.
Now, football's the one with the sticks, isn't it?
I think it's wonderful to see the Doctor having to act normally.
Hello, I'm Craig's new flatmate. I'm called the Doctor.
Alright, Doctor. So where are you strongest?
- Arms. - No, he means...
- What position on the field? - Not sure.
The front, the side? Below?
I like that episode. I think it's very funny.
I think it's wonderful to see the Doctor having to act normally.
You see what an alien he is.
Alex: As an alien who likes to hang out on Earth,
the Doctor has befriended several others like him.
Let's call them eccentric extra-planetary guests.
Sir, please do not noogie me during combat prep.
Strax; Dan Starkey plays him as a comic genius.
What are you doing here?
Madame Vastra wondered if you were needing any grenades.
Grenades...?
She might have said help.
He's just constantly berating Strax, but he sort of loves him.
I suggest a full frontal assault with automated laser monkeys,
- ...scalpel mines, and acid. - Why?
If there's any sort of crisis, they're like, "Strax, what should we do?"
"Get some grenades."
"No, we can't get grenades. That's not the answer."
"Violence is not the answer, Strax."
"What do you mean it's not the answer? Of course it's the answer."
(Yelling)
(Zapping)
And then you have Vastra, this sort of leader of the revolution.
What now, Madame? We could lay mimetic cluster mines!
- Strax... - Or dig trenches and fill them with acid!
Strax, you're overexcited. Have you been eating Miss Jenny's sherbet fancies again?
(Hesitates) No...?
Go outside and wait for me until I call for you.
- But Madame... - Go!
(Grumbling)
Alex: Like his character,
Matt Smith has also made strong friendships in strange places.
One of the most embarrassing things that's ever happened in my life
was at ComicCon last year.
- Do you know Chris Hardwick? - Yeah, yeah.
- Well, I did... he's a pal... - Was a pal.
I ran into Matt Smith while I was dressed as the tenth Doctor.
And he turns up, and he is in David Tennant's costume.
- Was he? - It was almost like running into your...
Girlfriend while you were cheating on her.
- Sonic, the whole sheboom. - Really!
- Yeah, yeah. - Great.
- The glasses. - Well done, Chris.
I was like, "Hey, Matt! Oh..."
And he was like, "Oh, I see where your heart lies!"
- That is harsh, actually. - Hurt.
I'm sorry, Matt...
Alex: Coming up, when you can go anywhere in time and space,
how do you narrow down your itinerary?
We revisit the real and fantastical places where the TARDIS touched down
during Matt Smith's flight.
(Roaring)
♪
Alex: In his three seasons at the helm of the TARDIS,
Matt Smith's eleventh Doctor has fought strange evil creatures
and befriended strange good creatures.
When you pilot the TARDIS, you can go anyplace in time...
Past, present, or future.
There are some destinations you could never imagine.
It all started with Steven Moffat saying,
"I'm going to give you the best title of any Doctor Who episode ever."
Dinosaurs... on a spaceship!
The title is all you need. "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship."
I've always wanted an episode with dinosaurs.
I've always wanted the Doctor to go back and see the dinosaurs.
And Steven sort of goes one better and puts them in space.
(Roaring) Raaah yourself!
Hello, cutie-pie. Who's a lovely tricey, then, eh?
We had to build the biggest set we'd ever built to fit dinosaurs in,
and that was just a baby dinosaur, you know. These things are huge.
Geronimo!!
(Roaring)
That was a model that they'd made to scale of a baby Triceratops.
Go, Tricey! Run like the wind!
And we'd get on that and we'd go on this model through the corridors,
and then in post, they CGI that model up,
and then it looked like a perfectly real dinosaur.
How do you start a triceratops?
We had a day of myself and Matt and Mark
basically just strapped onto a bucking dinosaur, which did move up and down.
I'm not going to go into too much detail, but it was fairly painful to ride,
and there were certain parts of my body that I was slightly fearful for.
(Yelling)
Where are the brakes?
(Roaring)
(Yelling)
Alex: After the eleventh Doctor took control,
the TARDIS found its way to a location rarely visited in the 45 years previous -
a strange world called the USA.
The hardest thing about the Utah shoot was the geography.
It was a long, long way into the desert that we were filming.
You've got this little tiny plane to Moab.
It was very small, and I get very freaked out by flying.
Why on earth a ton of metal should fly through the air, I just don't know.
- Picture's up. Quiet, please. - Very quiet all around, please.
Okay, action.
- Doctor: Salud! - All: Salud.
The light here is so extraordinary that it elevates all the stuff on the screen.
It bounces off the water, and
then it can turn purple and blue and sort of blood-orange, and...
It's been quite an experience to witness.
Anyone who visited that set got a bit of a shock
when they got there and realised how difficult it was.
Lots of problems here. We're shooting on a beach,
and we're trying to get all the gear down here.
We just had our camera truck stuck in the sand over here. It was a real nightmare.
Hopefully we'll still get all the shots we need for the scene.
- AB common marker. - Action.
This is it, yeah? Right place?
Uh, nowhere, middle of? Yeah, this is it.
- Howdy. - Doctor.
(Laughs) It's the Ponds!
To come out and work in America
and go to these great locations which have great filmic history and heritage,
films like Forrest Gump and
great John Ford movies and Indiana Jones and stuff like that
that's all filmed there... Spielberg's been there, you know?
And for us to be there and to be part of that lineage is a great thing.
Alex: Another new destination for the eleventh Doctor,
a big noisy city on the edge of North America.
We actually got to shoot in New York City, which was incredible.
I'm gonna go get us some more coffee, who wants more coffee, me too, I'll go!
We loved shooting there. New York's one of my favourite cities.
There is nowhere that you can't not look
that isn't just completely and utterly swellingly magnificent.
Every view is an enigma, and that's sort of wonderful.
I mean, I just want to shoot there for a year.
Let's just make Doctor Who in New York forever.
Filming in Central Park itself was incredible.
We went down there, and then, all of a sudden, there were
hundreds and hundreds of people screaming.
We were like, "When did this happen in America?"
It was one of the most insane experiences we've ever had.
We had to film this scene, and we all decided that it would be really great
if it happened in Times Square.
And that wasn't actually scripted, so we just ran there
one night and did it with no warning, no shoot set-up, nothing.
What's River doing in a book? What's Rory doing in a book?
He went to get coffee. Pay attention.
He went to get coffee and turned up in a book. How does that work?
I don't know. We're in New York!
Gradually, there was a little crowd forming, and we were like, "Oh, no."
It was really fun, though.
A big shout-out to the fans in America,
because they would clap you for running over a bridge,
which was sort of magnificent.
It was a wonderful experience.
(Camera shutters clicking)
Alex: While his character has explored the Universe,
Matt Smith and his castmates have travelled the world.
The sign does say "Keep Out."
I see "Keep Out" signs as suggestions more than actual orders,
like "Dry Clean Only."
We got to film in a place called Fort Bravo in Spain,
and so many iconic films have been made there.
The town we were in was the set for "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly".
Matt had to ride a horse, which I think people were fairly worried about.
Can I borrow your horse, please? It's official marshal business.
He's called Joshua. It's from the Bible.
It means "The Deliverer." (Horse whinnies)
- No, he isn't. - What?
I speak Horse. He's called Susan.
And he wants you to respect his life choices.
I learned to ride a horse.
I only had two lessons, but I got up to a canter on it, which was lovely.
My horse was called Caramel.
He looks as if he's really galloping the horse.
I think that actually, the horse was galloping him, and he was quite shocked.
I used to feed it an apple every day. Sweet horse.
If you're watching, Caramel, in Spain, hola, and come over to London.
You want an apple, I'm here, man. So, welcome any time.
Another journey Matt Smith has come to love,
his annual sojourn to that most exotic planet of all -
San Diego Comic-Con.
(Cheering)
I don't know if I'd ever heard a Comic-Con crowd
erupt as loud as they did for Matt Smith.
And that was my first introduction, too.
Wow, this guy is not just loved, like, he is really, really, really loved.
Hello, I'm at Comic-Con! (Cheering)
What's sort of amazing about the fans at Comic-Con is that
there's no cynicism about them. They're just there to go and explore
all the things they love, their hobbies, their passions.
How many people are wearing the purple jacket?
(Cheering)
I've often said the world should be a little more like Comic-Con.
If we could borrow a bit of that spirit, it'd be a better place.
As Comic-Con makes clear,
Doctor Who fans are passionate about sharing their love for the show
with each other and with everyone else.
At the first screening in New York, it was just incredible,
'cause we had no idea what it was going to be like,
and suddenly we're in this amazing theatre in the East Village,
and they were just screaming, and we were just flabbergasted.
The show really tipped in America after Matt,
and I think a lot of that has to do with...
You know, he portrayed this character with a really young energy.
(Beatboxing)
Matt and Karen and Arthur look like a band.
Like, they look like a fun Britpop band, and their energy is sort of like that too.
I've seen Matt interacting with fans.
He is so caring to them, and so gentle with them,
so kind to them in that way.
Alex: Matt Smith's time as the Doctor coincided with a new outlet
for the fans' passion - social media sites where fan artwork abounds.
It's been a creative outpouring of galactic proportions.
Luckily for fans,
Matt Smith has never been the kind of actor to hide from his public.
He really is that sweet, gregarious man you'd expect him to be.
With the fan stuff, it kind of never really grows old,
and I know it won't last forever, so I try and live in the moment in those moments.
I never started out thinking that we would come to America
and fill Hall H at Comic-Con and do all these things and travel the world with it
and have an audience of, like... people tell me it's 77 million.
It's a surprise. You don't take it for granted.
Alex: And luckily for Matt,
Doctor Who fans can be brilliantly entertaining company.
I'm grateful to the fans of Doctor Who, 'cause they've given me a lot of support.
And I'll miss all that, both me and the ego.
That's the thing, people cheer when you walk into a room sometimes.
It's weird, and it's got nothing... and it isn't about me, it's about the part.
But you do go, "Oh, it's really nice."
Alex: Coming up, what's the saddest thing about being 1000 years old?
Outliving the ones you love.
♪
Hello!
Alex: Over the three seasons that Matt Smith led the cast of Doctor Who,
the popularity of this 50-year-old TV show skyrocketed,
as the eleventh Doctor built a worldwide fan following.
- I think they're coming for you. - What if I just run?
You'd have to keep running for the rest of your life.
- They would be chasing you forever. - Well, then.
Better get started.
Husband, run.
But in 2012, he faced his lowest point - the loss of not one companion, but two.
This fictional departure brought real-life sadness.
Working with Karen and Arthur has been a dream come true for me.
They are two of my closest friends now.
I will miss them terribly, actually.
And we've come on this journey together, and it's been a...
A wonderful thing to experience with two people, and I'm sure
none of us will ever have anything like it, and we will never forget it.
In a weird way, you sort of don't think it's ever going to end,
and that time's not really going to come
where you have to step off the TARDIS for the last time.
- Amy, come see this. - What?
There's a gravestone here for someone with the same name as me.
(Laughs) What?
(Whoosh)
Doctor!
Ah.
Where the hell did that come from?
We've been filming the final scenes for the Ponds in Doctor Who,
and yeah, it's been a very, very emotional time.
Where's Rory?
I'm sorry.
Amelia...
I'm so... so sorry.
It's really harrowing, isn't it, to say goodbye to them? Because...
Oh, and that last scene is just...
The Angel, would it send me back to the same time, to him?
I don't know! Nobody knows!
- But it's my best shot, yeah? - No!
Doctor, shut up! Yes, yes, it is.
I've been crying for about two days now.
I don't think my tear ducts work anymore.
- I will never be able to see you again. - I'll be fine.
- I'll be with him. - Amy, please.
Come along, Pond, please.
(Crying)
♪
Raggedy man...
Goodbye.
(Whoosh)
It wasn't easy to shoot. It's sad.
Oh.
It's a moving moment when you realise that,
more than anything, an era has ended.
Alex: After losing Rory and Amy to the Weeping Angels,
the Doctor spent a century or so on his own,
looked after by his friends, Vastra and Strax.
Sir, permission to express my opposition to your current apathy.
Permission granted.
Sir, I am opposed to your current apathy.
That's the beauty and the tragedy of whoever plays the Doctor,
because people have to go, but he's the constant. He remains.
The Doctor may have wanted to disconnect from humanity,
but one human was determined to reconnect with him -
yet another strong, self-assured woman.
It's called the TARDIS. It can travel anywhere in time and space.
And it's mine.
Clara challenges him and confronts him a bit more
and puts him in his place a bit more.
And I think it's sort of interesting for the Doctor.
- Look at it, it's... - Go on, say it. Most people do.
(Chuckles)
♪
...Smaller on the outside.
(Hesitates) Okay, that is a first.
Matt always says, filming Doctor Who is kind of like filming a big dance...
and that's the way he describes it... and especially in the movement.
It's funny how we found a kind of synch and dance and tennis between us both.
- After you. - After you!
After you. I'm wearing a dress. Eyes front, soldier.
- My eyes are always front. - Mine aren't.
- Stop it! - No.
I'm just really proud of Jenna, because to come in after Karen and Arthur,
who were hugely popular, and to come into this show, which is...
the pace at which it works, she's just dealt with that with aplomb,
and I think grown into such a wonderful companion.
I like skidding.
You know everything. In fact, you know everything first.
Matt knows all the gossip, you see, all the on-set gossip.
All the important things, I turn to Matt.
I keep my ear to the ground.
Oh, yeah. With this show, it's like a train,
and you've got to sort of jump on board
and you've got to hit the ground running as much as you can.
I think it just goes so fast.
Like, there's not much kind of analysis time as you're doing it.
You kind of jump on the train and you're in there and running down a corridor
and being chased, or the next day you're in London on a motorbike.
- You don't really have time, do you? - To process it all, no.
Um... it all happens so quickly.
Alex: Coming up, the Doctor celebrates 50
and decides to pass the sonic screwdriver to his successor.
Geronimo!!
♪
Alex: Through his years as the face and heart of Doctor Who,
Matt Smith has lived fictional and real-life adventures
that no one could have predicted when he began.
On top of it all, Matt's run in the role of the Time Lord
coincided with a major moment in time and space -
The 50th anniversary of Doctor Who's television premiere.
Because it's about time travel, multiple versions of this character can exist
alongside each other, and that's potentially quite awkward.
- What are you doing here? I'm busy. - Oh, busy, I see.
Is that what we're calling it, eh?
- Hello, ladies. - Don't start.
Listen, what you get up to in the privacy of your own regeneration is your business.
One of them is a Zygon.
Ugh!
- I really enjoyed it. - Yeah, I enjoyed it.
But you would have had every right to be uncomfortable about me turning up,
muscling in on the action.
I think if you weren't back, there'd have been riots in the street.
One of those was a Zygon?
Big red rubbery thing, covered in suckers.
- Yep. - Venom sacs in the tongue.
- I'm getting the point. - Thank you. Nice.
Our Doctors seem to get on quite well.
I think they do, yeah. I mean, they bicker a bit,
But it's quite... they quite enjoy each other's very presence.
(Both) Ooh, lovely!
They're both so completely the Doctor,
and yet they're standing on screen together
and it's quite eye-twisting to see it.
Good afternoon. I'm looking for the Doctor.
Well, you've certainly come to the right place.
Good, right. Well, who are you boys?
Oh, of course. Are you his companions?
- "His companions"...? - They get younger all the time.
J. Hurt... well, he's J. Hurt, isn't he?
And he really delivers on all those J. Hurt things
that you want him to, like... I've got to say, I often feel,
I just go... man, he's just moving his eyes,
and I'm literally climbing off the walls.
- Yeah, as I pull another face. - Yeah!
The face acting I'm doing, and then he...
And then J. Hurt... he's slightly raised an eyebrow.
- Imperceptibly raised an eyebrow. - But you know...
You know he's winning an Oscar right there.
You're me? Both of you?
- Yup. - Even that one?
- Yes! - You're my future selves?
- Both: Yes. - Am I having a midlife crisis?
Why are you pointing your screwdrivers like that?
They're scientific instruments, not water pistols!
- You gave me good advice. - Did I?
- Advice that I'd pass on. - Good.
- Not advice that I can repeat. - No, don't repeat it.
But what you did say was that I'd have the most fun ever,
and you know what? You were right.
Alex: This remarkable, beloved performer...
he of the square jaw, impressive coiffure and strange sense of cool...
Has put a distinctive mark on the character of the Doctor.
He is the most dedicated person that I've ever worked with in my career.
And I think that he's a brilliant actor, he's a brilliant ambassador on set,
and the crew absolutely adore him.
- And, you know, he's Doctor Who. - The weight of leading a show like that
is huge, and he made it look so easy.
But actually, he would turn up to work every day
after doing hours and hours of work.
I'll tell you something about Matt Smith;
I've asked Matt to do so many things...
Podcasts, television shows, web videos...
He's done all of it.
Matt Smith, welcome to our wee little podcast. It's so nice of you to do this.
No, listen, it's a complete pleasure.
I keep expecting him to be like, "Really, Hardwick, I think I've done enough,"
but never once.
Every time, he's been like, "Oh, yeah, man."
I think that's what I always think of Matt,
is he's the "Oh, yeah" man. It's just that excitement.
That, to me, is Matt.
But like the ten actors who came before him, his time as a Time Lord is finite.
Regeneration always comes around again.
Of course, there's always a part of you that goes, "I never want to go."
There are no parts like this.
He's the Doctor, you know? It's the coolest character.
- What a character. - Matt Smith's love of new,
unexpected adventure led him to this role,
and to refashion it in a way that only he could.
For so many people, especially in the United States,
Matt Smith was the very first Doctor they were ever exposed to,
and he did such a tremendous job with that responsibility.
He offered so much hope to the characters in the show
and to the people watching it. In the very first episode,
he grabs a young man and he just looks at him and he says,
"Be magnificent." He's like, "This is your chance to be extraordinary."
Listen to me. You have to be magnificent. This is when you fly.
Today's the day you save the world.
Matt really was extraordinary,
and watching his tenure of Doctor Who maybe inspires a new group of people
to be the most extraordinary people that they can be
in whatever spheres they might be in.
You've touched so many lives, saved so many people.
Did you think when your time came you'd really have to do more than just ask?
You are loved by so many and so much!
I really will miss it terribly.
I'll miss the people and I'll miss
playing a character that can bounce from A to Z like that,
and that is the cleverest in the room
but also the silliest in the room and the stupidest in the room.
And, you know, travelling to things like Comic-Con and the events
and fans and just all the great stuff that you get
being in Doctor Who. It's just been thrilling,
and I've loved it, and I feel very, very grateful that I've got to experience it.
Alex: Matt Smith, here's to you, sweetie.
Thank you for all of the eleventh Doctor's joy,
passion, hilarity, and heartbreak.
Fish fingers and custard just won't taste the same without you.
♪
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