After seeing many comments from people all over the net concerning Matt Smith's casting as the Doctor, I felt that I should express my own thoughts. I've seen a lot of unfair, negative reaction to him even though it's still months away from his debut on screen. Here's what I have to say about it:
THE ACTOR
- First of all, most people point out his age, saying he's too young. Peter Davison was 29 when he was cast, only about 3 years older than Smith. I also prefer to look at it from the perspective of the series' own regeneration mythology. There's nothing that says the Doctor can't regenerate in a body that makes him look like he's in his mid 20s. Also, Smith's face has a quality to it that helps him look older than he actually is. Steven Moffat was dead set on casting someone older at first, but when Smith came in Moffat and the others involved in the casting process were so impressed with him that they knew he was the one they wanted. Personally, I trust Moffat's decision and don't believe Smith's casting was any kind of move to appeal to a particular demographic.
- Something else that's brought up is how Smith is mostly unknown and hasn't had a lot of film credits under his belt yet. This can also go hand in hand with his age. Again, Davison was also in his 20s when cast, but by then he'd already become a household name for his role on All Creatures Great and Small, while Tom Baker and Sylvester McCoy were in their 40s when cast and were both relative unknowns. So to me, his age and how many roles he's had yet don't necessarily mean he's a poor actor.
- One other thing is his looks. Really though, while a lot of people have come to think of Tennant as sex-on-legs, look at Doctors of the past. They weren't all good-looking guys. The emphasis of the Doctor as an object of attraction is still a fairly new thing in the history of the show, ever since McGann's kissing in the TV movie.
THE COSTUME
- The other thing I see people complain about quite often is his costume. I was a bit unconvinced at first, but it's grown on me. It has a nice young eccentric college professor quality to it that I think suits him. I think it also helps balance the age issue by putting him in something much more traditional and classic. Gives him a bit of Troughton in his appearance too.
Anyway, I just wanted to coalesce my thoughts on the various criticisms people have made. My basic feeling is just to wait and see. It's no use making up our minds about him so quickly before we get to see him in action. There were some who had the same sorts of reactions to David Tennant's casting, and he's come to be almost universally loved now, so you can't really judge by initial appearances.
