Yesterday’s announcement that Matt Smith is to be the next star of Doctor Who has attracted widespread media coverage with BBC bosses likely to be celebrating their success in drowning out coverage of ITV’s newest fantasy show Demons.
In possibly the second article to be published on the subject (after our own) the Guardian’s Gareth McLean shares his thoughts on Smiths casting. Be warned, some of the accompanying ‘fan’ comments make for scary reading…
In The Observer Caroline Davies and David Smith remark that Smith beat each of “the high-profile names touted to play the iconic Time Lord” to the part. In common with several outlets the paper brands Smith a “relative unknown”, a line also taken by the Sunday Herald, Sky, the AFP and AP agencies and The Independent. BBC News poses the question “Who on earth is Matt Smith?”
The Times reports that Smith’s casting has “has divided Doctor Who fans”. In The Telegraph Chris Hastings takes a kinder line, referring to Smith as “the BBC comedy drama Party Animals”. Hastings also observes that:
“Doctor Who, which was famously scrapped by the BBC in the 1980s, is now one of the Corporation’s most important programmes following its return to screens in 2005.”
Also in The Telegraph, Andrew Pettie suggests that Smith’s casting cements Doctor Who’s position as “more than merely a long-running television show – it’s a savvy multi-million-pound brand.”
Ending on a local note, in an article in the Northampton Chronicle and Echo Smith recalls his school days in the town.
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