Doctor Who: Matt Smith attracts 8m viewers - exactly the same as Tennant's first show (original) (raw)

Matt Smith's Doctor Who debut equals David Tennant's 8million viewers as critics praise first show

More than eight million people tuned in to watch Matt Smith's debut as Doctor Who last night as he took over the role from David Tennant.

Smith, 27, wowed in his first appearance in the iconic part and critics are already declaring he could be the best Time Lord to date.

Their verdicts will be music to the ears of BBC chiefs, who have been anxiously waiting to see if the 11th incarnation of Doctor Who would be as popular as Tennant.

In fact, Smith secured exactly the same viewing figures as the Scottish actor did when he first officially took over the role in April, 2006.

His appearance last night won a massive 36.9 per cent of the audience share. The eight million figure compared to a 5.4million average for that time slot this year so far.

Hit: Matt Smith and his sidekick Karen Gillan in their debut Doctor Who

The BBC is so far trouncing ITV in the Easter ratings war, with huge audiences for the new series of Ashes to Ashes on Friday as well.

Last night's Over the Rainbow, which came immediately after Doctor Who, also pulled in 5.4million viewers. The channel has also shown the Grand Prix and Boat Race.

ITV's best performance of the day was Ant and Dec's Push the Button, who pulled in 3.9million viewers - less than half the number who watched Doctor Who.

A BBC spokesman said: 'The return of Gene Hunt in Ashes to Ashes, the launch of a brand new Doctor Who, and the continued search for Dorothy in Over the Rainbow; we're thrilled so many viewer enjoyed the wide varierty of programming on BBC One this easter.'

When Tennant announced he was quitting Doctor Who, a string of famous names including Richard E. Grant and David Morrissey were linked to the role.

Smith, at 27 the youngest of all the doctors, was largely unheard of when he won the part and there was trepidation at how choice might affect the hit programme, which has been a ratings winner since its revival in 2005 and particularly under Tennant.

But if last night's figures and the reviews are anything to go by, Smith could even outshine his predecessor.

His kooky, ruffled style won him plaudit after plaudit as critics said he was born to play the Time Lord.

Rave reviews: Critics said Smith could be the best Doctor Who ever

Sinclair McKay, for the Mail on Sunday, said: 'The moment the Tardis crash-lands in an English country garden... Smith faces down any doubters with aplomb.'

He added: 'Smith seems to have caught it all effortlessly - the sudden leaps of inspiration, the mobile face, the geeky yet implacable squaring up to terrible monsters.

CRITICS' VERDICT

'Smith might turn out to be one of the best Time Lords of the lot'

Sinclair McKay, Mail on Sunday

'Matt Smith fights aliens. He wears tweed. He loves custard. He is the Doctor. And he might be more the Doctor than anyone who was the Doctor before.'

Matthew Bell, Observer

''It was ridiculous but it felt right: mad, alien, brand new but very old. A+ to the casting director. A+ to Smith.'

Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

'By the end of the episode, in his tweed jacket and bow tie, like an Indie-band Professor Quatermass, you have forgotten all about his illustrious predecessor. Indeed, Smith might turn out to be one of the best Time Lords of the lot.'

Matthew Bell, in the Observer, agreed. He said: 'From the moment he appeared, dangling from the architrave of his time machine, the new boy demonstrated that he can more than fill the shoes of his predecessor.

'Matt Smith fights aliens. He wears tweed. He loves custard. He is the Doctor. And he might be more the Doctor than anyone who was the Doctor before.'

Roland White for The Times writes: 'The previous doctor, David Tennant, smouldered his way across the space-time continuum. Smith is more of a geek-chic Time Lord.

'Floppy-haired and bright-eyed, he looks as if he has wandered onto the set by mistake on his way to appear for one of the more crusty colleges in University Challenge. Reading physics, of course.

'I’m a sucker for anybody who can carry off a tweed jacket and a bow tie, but perhaps the biggest difference was that Smith is a much more quixotic, light-hearted Doctor than Tennant, who seemed to carry the cares of the universe on his shoulders.'

Passing on the sonic screwdriver: Smith and his predecessor David Tennant

Benji Wilson, writing in The Telegraph, said: 'Smith is a man who could have been born with a stripy scarf round his neck. It’s there in his physiognomy - his face is made up of as many disparate workings as the Tardis...

'Essentially, the Doctor is meant to be a mad alien, and Smith looks like one before he even opens his mouth. By the end of episode one he was bedizened in a suitably daft public-school geography-teacher ensemble of bow tie and tweed jacket.

'It was ridiculous but it felt right: mad, alien, brand new but very old. A+ to the casting director. A+ to Smith.'

New assistant Amy Pond, Inverness-born actress Karen Gillan, 22, is also likely to become a huge star.

The 22-year-old redhead has already been described as the sexiest Dr Who assistant ever and a 'remarkably specimen' - by her own co-star.

But although Smith has played up suggestions of intimacy between them, they insist their relationship is purely platonic.

And his own verdict on his incarnation of Doctor Who? He says he is 'more reckless', 'a thrill-seeker' who is addicted to time travel.

'He is the mad buffoon genius who saves the world because he's got a great heart, spirit and soul but he also doesn't suffer fools,' the actor said recently.

I hope all of these things come across but I think I've also injected a bit of my own personality into the role.'

Long may he reign.