Almost Wasn’t
I wonder now as I read this article, what Doctor Who would be like had Matt Smith backed out. Smith says he wobbled. So, he questioned his decision to take the role and almost wasn’t the Eleventh Doctor. What would the show look like if Smith backed out?
Well, let’s say when Smith wobbled he did back out. As a fan, I want to know who Moffat considered for the role. According to Wikipedia, there were two other actors considered. The first one was a suggestion from RTD. His name was Russell Tovey, while the second was Peter Capaldi. Tovey was a more serious consideration than Capaldi.(1)
When thinking about who was next if Smith backed out, you need to think about how the other actor would portray the Doctor. Okay, Moffat cast Tovey as the Doctor. Without knowing who he is, I wonder what are we getting. Is he funny, mean, serious, sarcastic, or you can name what you want here. Will his catchphrase be bowties are cool or something else?
Yeah, Moffat as the showrunner will find a way for the script to fit whoever he cast as the Doctor. He can be any of the things mentioned above, but will what happens on the screen be good? How will Karen Gillian and Tovey work together and will we even have the same characters and storylines? These are all questions we need to ask.
Would Tovey be as exciting as Smith or will he be boring? Will we hear geronimo? I loved everything Smith did during his three years as the Doctor. So wow, I am finding it hard to imagine anyone else as the Eleventh Doctor.
So, I can’t imagine Tovey as the Eleventh Doctor. But how about the other actor. Capaldi does become the Doctor but seeing him as the Eleventh Doctor is just as impossible. Doctor Who would seem out of order had Capaldi been the Eleventh Doctor rather than the Twelfth.
Of course, I say that because we watched him as the Twelfth. It makes me wonder what would it be like had Moffat switch the order of Smith and Capaldi. It would probably be good but maybe not as good as it was.
We can wonder how much different the show may have been without Smith, but that doesn’t matter. Why it doesn’t is because he made the right choice and did not back out. I am glad he did not back out. As a result, Whovians had three great years with the youngest actor to play the Doctor. And I am pretty sure his biggest fans wanted him to stay even longer.
