Matt Smith is the New Doctor Who And, He's OK

It's never easy to step into a role when you are stepping into a role that was previously held by someone very popular. For fans of the BBC television series Doctor Who this has happened a few times. The man known as "The Fourth Doctor" was played by an actor named Tom Baker. If you know anything about this fictional science fiction character it may be the big, long brown coat, hat and ridiculously long scarf. That was Tom Baker. When Tom left, he had big shoes to fill.

The thing you need to know about the character of Doctor Who is that he is an alien. He is from a race of beings known as Time Lords. They have absolute control over time and space. They travel in strange devices that are part spaceship and part time machine known as a TARDIS. These devices are supposed to change shape so that they blend in perfectly into their surroundings. However, the Doctor's TARDIS is damaged and stuck in the shape of a square, blue London Police call box. The TARDIS is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, by the way. Time Lords have two hearts and they regenerate when the "die." So, this was a great thing for a long-running series whenever the actor playing the Doctor decided he wanted to move on.

The show has gained a very large cult following. Part of the charm of the early series was the rather shabby-looking special effects. Most of the time it looked like a high school drama department had been given a bunch of video cameras and decided to create a home grown science fiction show. The strangeness of it and the shabbiness of it and the earnestness with which the actors played it despite this and the general sense of fun the Doctor always seemed to be having made the show a hit. His list of villains has become as legendary to fans of the show as the Doctor himself. There were the Daleks, the Cybermen and the Master.

The show got canceled for a while and then was brought back a few years ago. The first Doctor back was played by Christopher Eccleston. He was just new from something called the Time War which we, the audience, never got to see. This was a war that took place as a final showdown between the Daleks and the Time Lords. The two species supposedly killed each other, except for the Doctor, of course. The Daleks, it turns out, were not killed either as they have come back time and again.

Eccleston did not last long. He was soon replaced by actor David Tennant. He was a much lighter and more-fun version of the Doctor. He soon became the most popular Doctor ever. He even surpassed the legendary Tom Baker in popularity as he faced down all of the Doctor's old foes. Tennant was also a fan of the series, which seemed to make his Doctor all the more fun to watch. He was partners with the very popular Rose Tyler for a while and there was a hint of a romance between the two, although it was never realized.

Tennant seemed like he would be locked in the role forever. Then, suddenly, he decided it was time to move on. He said he wanted to leave before the show, and this job, became boring. It was a sad moment, but it lead to very powerful, emotional stories by the writing team. His final episode and his regeneration were real gut-wrenching stories.

Now, a man named Matt Smith steps into the role. He is the youngest actor to ever hold down this particular role. If you are in the UK, you have already seen his first run. However, for fans of the Doctor in the U.S. we have to wait until now as we wait for BBC America. That time has now come and eager fans of the Doctor have are waiting with baited breath. The good news is that they can now breath easily.

The first episode was entitled The Eleventh Hour and it was just about as much fun as the previous episodes. It established the character, gave him a few new quirks, and showed that the people behind this series, the writers, are still in control.

The episode was not particularly outstanding save for introducing the new actor. The Doctor's TARDIS is out of control and crash lands in the backyard of a small house. A little girl with red hair is afraid of this crack in her bedroom wall because, well, this is a Doctor Who story and that crack is obviously a crack into another dimension or universe. It turns out it leads to a dimension that is actually a prison. The prison guards are giant eyeballs and the prisoner, Prisoner Zero, has escaped into this dimension.

The new Doctor, like this before him, has a slightly different personality than his predecessor. Each actor seems to accommodate what the actor before him brought to the role. He has a sense of fun, but also a sense of impatience. At times, humans seem to irritate him. He is also a bit of a bad-ass, not afraid to face-off against the aliens who want to destroy the earth by standing toe-to-toe with them.

Matt Smith manages to combine these elements well. Yes, he is different than Tennant, and if he just showed up and did an impression of Tennant, it would be boring. He has his own way about him and it is a good way, I think. I am looking forward to where he takes the role.

Also promising in this first episode is his new companion, Amy Pond. She is played by the rather fetching Karen Gillan. She is a strong person and maybe just a little bit crazy. However, she has perfect companion aspects all over her portrayal.

The introduction episode accomplished what it set out to do. It announced the coming of a new actor and a slightly new direction. Coming up, the Doctor will face off against his arch-enemies, the Daleks. I look forward to seeing what Matt does with it. In fact, I look forward to many more seasons to come.