The Obligatory Matt Smith Post

Matt Smith is going to be, short of there being a terrible accident between now and when the 2010 season airs, the next Doctor Who.

And what I think about that is...it's a bloody long time to wait in order to find out what the new chap is like.

I know nothing about Smith, so today I watched The Ruby In The Smoke - which he is in, and in which he's pretty good. He's got a very distinctive look - he looks like a man who is very much older, who was a prizefighter, and had his face reassembled by aliens who were told "leave everything just as it is, but make him look 18".

This is what Moffat et al will have noticed about him. Despite his youth - he's 26 - he looks as if he's been around a lot longer and seen a few things but mysteriously none of it has touched him. Is this what we want in a Doctor?

It doesn't matter. This is one of those times when fandom is going to have to reserve judgement - not that it will, because I haven't - and be quiet. I'm asking a lot of fandom, which generally behaves like an entire mental facility of turbulent six year olds with ADHD who have had their meds switched for raw sugar and amphetamines, and I don't think I'm going to get it to cooperate unless I wade in with a big stick. Since that's not my job, I won't.

Lawrence Miles has his usual incisive things to say, and he gets a link because even when I disagree with absolutely everything he has to say, I still like to read him. But my main critique of what Lawrence has to say is the same thing I would say to each and every person who is wailing and moaning at the moment: give the production team their due. They are supposed to understand how to cast a show, we are meant to watch the results and if they have screwed up we will find out very quickly.

For the record, Matt Smith was interesting enough in The Ruby in the Smoke that I went and found The Shadow in the North, which I believe he is also in, and will watch that over the coming week. I liked his performance. So I see this casting as a positive thing and will await developments.

Something to keep in mind, though, is that Fandom has been collectively wrong about every single new Doctor since Hartnell's departure. They have all brought something new and interesting to the show and the part. Yes, even Sylvester McCoy! Anyone wants to disagree with me on that score, feel free. You'll lose, but feel free. It is a testament to the level of investment that the viewers and fans have that we all have "our" Doctor. (I've got two - Tom Baker and Sylvester McCoy; the first got me into the show, the second got me back into it and then kept me there). Matt Smith is going to generate his own collection of fans who will, in the space of eighteen months, be squeeing their way across the internet and glorying in everything he does, much to the disdain of older and unhappier fans.

So it goes. I wish Matt Smith well.