As the Eleventh Doctor actor celebrates his birthday, we look back at his best moment.
“I. AM. TALKING.”
The year is 2014 and Matt Smith has just delivered one of the best Doctor Who speeches in recent memory – or, even, of all time.
More than five million viewers were glued to their TV screens to watch The Pandorica Opens, the first episode of the season 5 finale two-parter, which saw the Eleventh Doctor make a stand at Stonehenge and single-handedly scare off an allied army of his greatest enemies with a single speech.
It was brilliant writing from then-showrunner Steven Moffat, an unbelievably cool visual (an alien army at Stonehenge!), and, of course, a spectacular performance from actor Smith. But, looking back, it meant a hell of a lot more than that.
When Smith was cast as the Doctor, there were concerns about him being too unknown and about whether he could follow David Tennant’s wildly popular iteration. A decade later, both of those are absolutely laughable, with Smith becoming an internationally recognisable star and heralding in one of the most popular eras of Doctor Who to date.
But perhaps most unbelievably now, one of the main qualms thrown about when Smith was cast was his age. At 26, was he too young to depict Time Lord? Sure, the Doctor had come a long way s ince William Hartnell originated the grumpy old man with a twinkle in his eye characterisation, but that was still a part of him. Smith had to convince everyone – and quickly – that he was capable of portraying a 900(ish)-year-old character.
And that he did. It certainly didn’t take until the season 5 finale for him to prove himself, with his first episode, The Eleventh Hour, proving a triumph, both in terms of viewing figures and critical reception. But his speech in The Pandorica Opens, which must be considered one of the Eleventh Doctor’s finest moments, was enough to silence every critic.
To the sound of Murray Gold’s inimitable score, Eleven immediately delivered a speech for the ages, reminding his enemies – and his audience – of the legacy of the Doctor.
“No plan, no back-up, no weapons worth a damn! Oh, and something else I don’t have: anything to lose. So if you’re sitting up there in your silly little spaceship with all your silly little guns and you’ve got any plans on taking the Pandorica tonight, just remember who’s standing in your way.
“Remember every black day I stopped you and then – and then – do the smart thing. Let somebody else try first.”
With that brief speech, Smith seamlessly gave us an iteration of the Doctor that’s lived countless different lives, and has seen battle after battle. He gave us the 900-year-old Time Lord who has watched fire rain across the universe and come out the other side. And he gave us the Oncoming Storm, who has vanquished his enemies for hundreds of years without ever firing a single shot.
While Eleven might have been silly and eccentric and loveable, it was crucial to have these moments that reminded us of his power in the universe and just how dangerous he could be, while also showing, very early on in his career, Smith’s astonishing range as an actor.
It might be a cliched favourite moment to choose, but there’s a reason it’s gone down in Doctor Who history as one of Smith’s finest ever Doctor Who moments.
A decade later, as Smith celebrates his 42nd birthday, he and Doctor Who have both come a long way. Incredibly, the Doctor has some competition for Smith’s best known role, with the actor also giving career-defining performances in House of the Dragon as Daemon Targaryen and in The Crown as Prince Philip.
But for so many reasons, including his heartbreaking scenes, his hilarious one-liners, his whimsical monologues and this critic-defying moment, Whovians will always remember when the Doctor was Matt Smith.
