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Matt Smith Tries to Convince Everyone He’s “Too Old” to Return to Doctor Who

Matt Smith, who played the youngest Doctor to date, has said he might be “too old” to return to Doctor Who, convincing roughly 0% of the population.

In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Matt was asked if he’d ever come back to play the Doctor again, and he replied:

“Maybe, if it was the right script. I mean, I don’t know if I’ve got too old now. It would have to be really right.”

If this were The Office, we’d be giving a sideways glance to camera right now.

Matt played the Eleventh Doctor between 2010 and 2013, popping up again for a brief cameo in 2014’s Deep Breath. He’s now 39 years old.

The Eleventh Doctor, of course, was effectively trapped on Trenzalore for a thousand or so years, and we saw him age suitably — then-showrunner, Steven Moffat gave fans this as a gift, essentially, because he’s the one Doctor who could come back to the series at literally any point in his life without an explanation about time dilation or whatever to accommodate an older appearance. We’re sure Matt recognises this fact and is just teasing fans, trying to keep us in the dark over whether he might return for the programme’s 60th anniversary next year.

So far, David Tennant has been confirmed as coming back to the series (before Ncuti Gatwa is welcomed in as the new Doctor either in 2023 or 2024), and Matt seems excited for this too:

“What a Doctor, what an actor, what a bloke. Arguably David is… a totally seminal Doctor.”

The pair worked together on the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor. That was, unbelievably, almost a decade ago.

Okay, now we’re starting to feel old too.

What do you think, gang? Is Matt far too ancient now as he approaches his 40th birthday? Or is he just trying to deflect inevitable questions — questions which, let’s face it, he’s been continually asked since he was announced as stepping down as the Doctor on 1st June 2013 (and will continue to be asked forever)?

Philip Bates

Editor and co-founder of the Doctor Who Companion. When he’s not watching television, reading books ‘n’ Marvel comics, listening to The Killers, and obsessing over script ideas, Philip Bates pretends to be a freelance writer. He enjoys collecting everything. Writer of The Black Archive: The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang, The Silver Archive: The Stone Tape, and 100 Objects of Doctor Who.

Matt Smith Tries to Convince Everyone He’s “Too Old” to Return to Doctor Who

by Philip Bates time to read: 1 min
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