Doctor Who: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Eleventh Doctor
5. He Almost Wasn’t Played By Matt Smith
Every actor who plays the Doctor ends up becoming synonymous with the character, and there's always a rigorous audition process to find the show’s new lead.
Steven Moffat has since stated that he was initially looking for an older Doctor for number Eleven, and although Matt Smith emerged as an early favourite, lots of other actors were seen for the role.
One potential candidate was Chiwetel Ejiofor, who is widely believed to have been offered the role, but turned it down.
The rumour mill had its own ideas, with Paterson Joseph (who played Rodrick in Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways), Sean Pertwee (son of Third Doctor Jon Pertwee), and even Billie Piper speculated to be in the running. Yep, seriously.
Meanwhile, outgoing showrunner Russell T Davies – who had of course stoked the fire himself by including a fakeout regeneration in The Stolen Earth, and titling the 2008 Christmas special 'The Next Doctor' – wanted to see Alonso and The War Between the Land and the Sea actor Russell Tovey in the role.
These are all exciting suggestions in their own right, but no-one can deny that Matt Smith was born to play the Eleventh Doctor.