Matthew Robert Smith, (born 28 October 1982^[1]) more commonly known as simply Matt Smith, played the Eleventh Doctor from 2010 to 2013, beginning with an appearance at the conclusion of The End of Time, continuing from The Eleventh Hour to The Time of the Doctor.

He also appeared as the Doctor in the 2010 two-part storyline Death of the Doctor for the Doctor Who spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures and in a cameo in the 2014 episode Deep Breath.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Smith grew up in Northampton (located in the East Midlands of England) and attended Northampton School for Boys, mocked for having a face "with elbows".^[2]. He originally wanted to be a footballer but had to give up this ambition after a back injury. He excelled at sports in school. Matt supports Blackburn Rovers.^[3][2] After encouragement from his drama teacher, he joined the National Youth Theatre. He studied at the University of East Anglia, reading Drama and Creative Writing. He did not attend a Drama school.

Career[]

Matt Smith 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 twenty-seven years of age, Smith became the youngest actor ever to have played the Doctor on television (a record held for more than a quarter-century by Peter Davison) and the first to be born after the death of the First Doctor, William Hartnell. Following the conclusion of contract negotiations around Christmas 2008, Smith's casting was formally announced during a special broadcast of Doctor Who Confidential on BBC Three on 3 January 2009. Smith began filming his first full episodes as the Doctor in late July 2009.

The exact date of when Matt was cast is uncertain. It is known that Russell T Davies was informed on or just before 10 December 2008^[4], but 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. Smith announced his departure from Doctor Who on June 1st, 2013, being replaced with Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor in The Time of the Doctor. However, a scene was filmed during his final episode which shows the Doctor phoning Clara in the near future concerning his next incarnation; through this scene, Matt returned as the Doctor one last time in a brief cameo appearance at the end of Deep Breath.

Since being cast as the Doctor, Smith has also starred opposite Eva Green in the science fiction drama Womb (released on DVD as Clone), and has starred as the writer Christopher Isherwood in the BBC television film Christopher and His Kind. Beginning in 2016, Smith plays Prince Philip in the Netflix original series The Crown.

In 2021, he appeared in the Edgar Wright psychological horror Last Night in Soho alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, Thomasin McKenzie and Diana Rigg.

He also appeared as himself in The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot and An Adventure in Space and Time.

As well as continuing to maintain his record as the youngest actor to have been cast as the Doctor at the time of casing, Smith is also currently the youngest living actor to have held the role overall, being four months younger than his second successor, Jodie Whittaker.

In the DWU[]

In the story The Doctor Drops In, a TV screen with an image of Matt Smith next to the words "Doctor Who" are seen. Smith is then referred to by name in The Doctor Appears.

In the 2013 comic story The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who, Matt Smith encounters the Eleventh Doctor twice during an incident in which the Doctor finds himself in a parallel universe in which his adventures are chronicled in a TV series titled Doctor Who starring Smith. Smith meets the Doctor first at a Doctor Who convention where he initially thinks the Doctor is an expert cosplayer, and later during the filming of an episode at which time he realises the Doctor is real. Before departing for his own universe, the Doctor recommends Peter Capaldi to Smith as a potential future Doctor. Although the story was promoted as taking place in the "Real World", this is not the case as Smith describes plotlines for episodes that were never made.

Credits[]

Television[]

Doctor Who[]

• The End of Time
• The Eleventh Hour
• The Beast Below
• Victory of the Daleks
• The Time of the Angels / Flesh and Stone
• The Vampires of Venice
• Amy's Choice
• The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood
• Vincent and the Doctor
• The Lodger
• The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
• A Christmas Carol
• The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon
• The Curse of the Black Spot
• The Doctor's Wife
• The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People (also Eleventh Doctor)
• A Good Man Goes to War
• Let's Kill Hitler
• Night Thoughts
• The Girl Who Waited
• The God Complex
• Closing Time
• The Wedding of River Song
• The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
• Asylum of the Daleks
• Dinosaurs on a Spaceship
• A Town Called Mercy
• The Power of Three
• The Angels Take Manhattan
• The Snowmen
• The Bells of Saint John
• The Rings of Akhaten
• Cold War
• Hide
• Journey to the Centre of the Tardis
• The Crimson Horror
• Nightmare in Silver (also Mr Clever)
• The Name of the Doctor
• The Day of the Doctor
• The Time of the Doctor
• Deep Breath

Mini-episodes[]

• Meanwhile in the TARDIS
• Dermot and the Doctor
• Prequel: Let's Kill Hitler
• Death is the Only Answer
• Bad Night
• Good Night
• First Night
• Last Night
• Prequel: The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
• Asylum of the Daleks Prequel
• Pond Life
• The Great Detective
• The Bells of Saint John: A Prequel
• She Said, He Said: A Prequel
• The Inforarium
• Rain Gods
• A Night with the Stars
• The History of the Doctor

The Sarah Jane Adventures[]

• Death of the Doctor

Other[]

• Doctor Who at the Proms (2010) - Presenter
• One Born Every Minute
• Songtaran Carols (webcast) - Himself
• Doctor Who at the Proms (2013) - Presenter
• Cinema Introduction
• The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot - Himself

Stage Plays[]

BBC Worldwide[]

• The Monsters Are Coming!

Punchdrunk[]

• The Crash of the Elysium

Video Games[]

The Adventure Games[]

• City of the Daleks
• Blood of the Cybermen
• TARDIS
• Shadows of the Vashta Nerada
• The Gunpowder Plot

Console[]

• Evacuation Earth
• Return to Earth
• The Eternity Clock

Audiobook Readings[]

BBC Audio[]

• The Runaway Train
• The Jade Pyramid
• The Hounds of Artemis (with Clare Corbett)

Miscellaneous[]

Documentary[]

Doctor Who Confidential[]

• The Eleventh Doctor
• Call Me the Doctor
• All About the Girl
• War Games
• Eyes Wide Open
• Blinded by the Light
• Death in Venice
• Arthurian Legend
• After Effects
• What Goes on Tour...
• Extra Time
• Alien Abduction
• Out of Time
• Backstage at the Doctor Who Prom
• Christmas Special 2010
• Coming to America
• Breaking the Silence
• Ship Ahoy!
• Bigger on the Inside
• Double Trouble
• Take Two
• River Runs Wild
• About a Boy
• What Dreams May Come
• Heartbreak Hotel
• Open All Hours
• When Time Froze

The Monster Files[]

• The Daleks Monster Files
• The Weeping Angels Monster Files
• The Silurians Monster Files

DVD and Blu-ray[]

• Life Cycle of a Dalek
• Raptors, Robots and a Bumpy Ride
• Wild, Wild Spain?
• A Writer's Tale
• A Fall With Grace
• The Last Days of the Ponds
• Clara's White Christmas
• Creating Clara
• Clara's Journey

Behind the Scenes[]

• The Bells of Saint John
• The Rings of Akhaten
• Cold War
• Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS
• The Name of the Doctor

Behind the Lens[]

• The Time of the Doctor: Behind the Lens

Television[]

• Doctor Who in the U.S.
• The Companions
• Doctor Who: Tales from the TARDIS
• William Hartnell: The Original
• Farewell to Matt Smith

Audio commentary[]

• Hide

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

Footnotes[]