10 Doctor Who Mistakes Confirmed By The Creators

When Peter Davison was cast as the Doctor, Patrick Troughton advised him to do no more than three seasons in the part. It's an unwritten rule that generally sticks, as was the case when Matt Smith exited after Series 7.

Steven Moffat has since revealed that Series 8 was pitched as an Eleventh Doctor run, with many of the same elements present (the Doctor questioning if he was a good man, and “some other character [i.e. Missy] trying to tempt him to a darker path”).

It’s not known how far these plans got, or how late in the day Matt Smith confirmed his intentions.

Whatever the case, there was a feeling that The Time of the Doctor was a slightly lacklustre end to the Eleventh Doctor’s era, and that certain plot points were wrapped up rather hurriedly. And the man himself would seem to agree.

“Was it the best episode it could be?” Smith said in one interview. “I dunno, maybe, maybe not… I was proud of the body of work up to that point. But I think everything can always be better.”

Is this him throwing shade at The Time of the Doctor, or something more – an admission that he should've stayed for that fourth series after all? Either way, he seems less than satisfied with his Doctor’s ending.