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Matt Smith: I'll stay the Doctor for another year

 

Sherna Noah
Tuesday 11 December 2012 11:01 GMT
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Doctor Who star Matt Smith has revealed the unlikely influences behind his incarnation of the Time Lord - Blackadder, Inspector Clouseau and TV series Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em.

The actor, 30, took on the role of the 11th Doctor in 2010, following on from David Tennant.

He said that he has no plans to leave the BBC1 sci-fi series, partly because his own mother is such a fan.

He told the Radio Times that he channelled Blackadder, Peter Sellers as Jacques Clouseau in The Pink Panther and accident-prone character Frank Spencer in 1970s TV series Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em for the role.

"When I started as the Doctor, I watched loads of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, loads of Peter Sellers and loads of Blackadder - and somewhere betwixt the three lies my Doctor," he said.

"I love how grumpy but brilliant Blackadder can be. Frank Spencer is slightly unaware of how ridiculous he is and I think the Doctor is too.

"Clouseau and Blackadder have massive egos and the Doctor has a massive ego. Frank Spencer is kinder and gentler."

Smith returns in a Doctor Who Christmas Day special, alongside Jenna-Louise Coleman as the new companion and Richard E Grant as a villain.

The actor reassured fans he was not planning to bow out of the hit BBC1 series any time soon.

"We've got Doctor Who's 50th anniversary coming up in November 2013, and one assumes there'll be another Christmas special after that, and I'd hope to be part of it. I take each year as it comes," he said.

"All good things come to an end, but my mum is aghast at the thought of me ever not being the Doctor.

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"The show is the star and will continue without me. I'm committed to it next year and will sit down with (executive producer) Steven Moffat and see where we go from there. I've no immediate plans to leave. I'm around for a whole year and that's a long time."

PA

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