Doctor Who: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Eleventh Doctor
He's got wild hair and waves his arms a lot, but how well do you REALLY know the Eleventh Doctor?
He’s the Doctor who thought bow ties, fezzes, and Stetsons were cool. The Doctor who married River Song, visited his own grave, and journeyed to the centre of the TARDIS.
He witnessed the creation of a new Dalek paradigm, was almost silenced by the Silence, and reckoned with redesigned Silurians, Ice Warriors, and Cybermen.
He is the raggedy man. The madman with a box. The Eleventh Doctor.
At just 26 years of age, Matthew Robert Smith was the youngest actor to play TV’s favourite Time Lord. His tenure saw the show break viewership records in America, and culminated in Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary celebrations, a monumental moment in the legacy of the show. He had four Christmas specials, three main companions, two TARDIS interiors, and one sonic screwdriver.
You may know everything there is to know about his TV episodes. But what about behind the scenes revelations, or trivia that will make your head go wibbly? How about Eleven’s exploits in the vastness of the expanded universe?
Jammie dodgers at the ready, because this is where it gets complicated. Geronimo!
10. His Hair Was VERY Problematic
The Eleventh Doctor’s quiff is almost as iconic as his bow tie – but it was also something of a continuity nightmare.
This was a particular problem in The Time of Angels (the first story Matt Smith filmed), with the actor's wild hair magically changing length between scenes.
For the beach scenes at the start of the episode, Smith had a much messier hairstyle, with his fringe hanging over his eyes. Coupled with windy conditions, this had the unfortunate effect of obscuring his face, with showrunner Steven Moffat likening him to the Dulux Dog.
The earlier scene in the Delirium Archive museum was filmed months later, by which point the crew had "established what they wanted to do" with Smith's hair.
The overall silhouette remained but the fringe was cut shorter, and in a much more continuity-friendly way.
This also explains why the Eleventh Doctor’s hair gets progressively neater, and less chaotic, over the course of his next two series.
Ironically, by the time of Smith’s final story, he had no hair whatsoever, having shaved it all off for his role in the Ryan Gosling movie Lost River. Talk about cutting your hair to spite your face!