Matt Smith explains the advice that former Doctor Who actor David Tennant gave him when he took over his role. Tennant originally played the Tenth Doctor on the popular BBC series, and was succeeded by Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. Tennant later returned to Doctor Who for a brief stint as the Fourteenth Doctor, before the role was passed on to Ncuti Gatwa. Gatwa is now playing Fifteenth Doctor in Doctor Who season 14, which is currently airing episodes weekly.

In an interview with Variety, Smith reveals the advice Tennant gave him upon the changeover of the Doctor Who stars. Smith said that Tennant’s advice was to learn his lines on a Sunday, the weekend before a full week of shooting. The Eleventh Doctor actor went on to explain how Doctor Who’s line learning was a particularly “insatiable” task.

This challenge was due to the fact that it was a television series (rather than a visually florid film) and the fact that the Doctor carries a huge expositional burden in the show. Check out the full quote from Smith below:

I mean this was the thing, you know, that’s like a tiny segment of what was probably Steven Moffat writing. Like, the line learning for that job was insatiable, and David Tennant, god love him, said to me when I sort of phoned him and got the job and asked him for different bits of advice, and he was very generous with that, he was like ‘learn all of your lines on Sunday, because you’ve got to go back and do them, cause you’re shooting like 10 pages a day!’ He’s the vocal point for the exposition essentially, because he’s saying everything that he sees and obviously its television so you’re not doing it visually in quite the same way you would a film, you’ve got to explain what’s going on to the audience. Because the story has to move so quickly. So the line learning is just off the root to scale, like a lot.

Where Matt Smith Has Been Since Doctor Who

Tennant’s advice paid off extremely well when it came to Doctor Who. As he bops around the screen as the Time Lord, Smith is a force to be reckoned with in his line reading. He brings more energy than just about any other actor who has played The Doctor in any season of Doctor Who, for his recitation of complicated sci-fi concepts is nearly impeccable. It is great that a superstar like Tennant was able to give Smith such great advice, because it made that whole era of Doctor Who fantastic.

Since this advice amounted to an alluring performance, it was also helpful to Smith’s career overall, which has really taken off after Doctor Who. Following his 2010 debut in the series, the actor has been awarded a number of roles in major films and TV shows. In 2015, he played a key part in Terminator Genisys, showing his transition into blockbuster films. He played Phillip in the Netflix series The Crown for seasons 1 and 2, which was another major TV role for him.

Now, Smith has an almost equally high-profile role to Doctor Who by playing the lead in House of the Dragon. A spinoff of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon is one of the most notable shows on television right now. Both the series and Smith’s performance have been getting rave reviews, showing the actor’s strength. If it had not been for Tennant’s benevolence in passing knowledge down to his Doctor Who successor, Prince Daemon Targaryen might not be the same as he is today.

Source: Variety / YouTube