Matt Smith: The Biography

by Emily Herbert

The inside story of the new Doctor and his rapid rise to stardom
 
As the 11th incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, and the youngest actor ever to play the role, Matt Smith has taken TV audiences by storm. This biography fills fans in on the newcomer. It covers the early years of the aspiring youth footballer, who switched to studying drama and creative writing after a back injury. An outstanding 2003 performance in the National Youth Theatre production of The Master and Margarita brought him to the attention of an agent and earned him his first professional acting jobs. Smith's first television appearance, in the 2006 BBC adaptation of Phillip Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke was followed by first major role as Danny in Party Animals a year later. 2007 also saw him debut in the West End, starring in Fresh Kills and a critically acclaimed performance in That Face. But Smith's biggest break was to be cast in Doctor Who, first appearing in the show in January 2010. Replacing the much-loved David Tennant was no mean feat for a relatively unknown actor like Matt Smith but he has risen to the challenge and received rave reviews from critics and viewers alike for his quirky, offbeat take of the famous Time Lord.

Genres: Doctor Who, Biography, Nonfiction

250 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2010

Reviews

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another Poundland purchase and was shocked too see that the original recommended retail price was £17.99. If I'd paid any more than £1 I'd have been livid as it was no more than an assembly of newspaper cuttings about Matt Smith (badly) strung together to make a book. There were too many spelling and grammar errors to count - pretty much one on each page. So all in all written as a cash-in on a young actor who came to real prominence through playing Doctor Who. The very definition of money for old rope.

It didn't tell me anything I didn't know about either Matt Smith, Doctor Who or any of the other topics covered in the book and wasn't even particularly interesting.

For die-hard fans only.

[Eliza Brittni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt Smith is currently the star of the British Television show Doctor Who. This show is about a time traveling alien who saves the world usually with a companion in a blue police box as his time machine. “The Doctor” is an iconic role due to the fact that the show has been around for about 50 years. This part is an alien who looks like a human, who has been able to be played by 11 different actors due to the fact that he cheats death. Every cell in his body regenerates creating a completely different look, allowing new actors being able to play one man every single time. Matt Smith is currently the 11th Doctor. The term “my Doctor” is used to express the actor whose episodes one saw first. In that case, Matt Smith is “my Doctor”; I saw his first season last year in April and fell in love with him as an actor. This book helped me learn more about him and his accomplishments. Matt Smith is only 28 so it is funny that he has a biography, one would think that much hasn’t really happened yet. However, this book was filled with his childhood and his career of acting before he made it on to the show Doctor Who. When it was announced to the public that Matt Smith was the new Doctor there was a public outcry and protest. He was not very famous on the big screen, but what people did not know was that he was huge in the theater business. I only gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because even though it is jam packed with information the sources for the authors opinions do not seem very valid. Some are from public blogs and their opinions of Matt Smith do not matter enough to me to be in a professional book. They are not actual critics so I do not approve. Her information on the previous Doctors however, had excellent sources and the information was greatly detailed, but did not give away any information that would spoil any of their time while they played this iconic role. I am a fan girl of Matt Smith, but like I said I admire him as an actor as well. I have already seen multiple movies and television shows that he has been in and he was phenomenal in all of them. If you are new to the show Doctor Who, like me, and wish to learn about the doctors in a fashion that will not spoil their runs this book is excellent for that as well.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to take a red pen to the whole book. It read as though it hadn't been edited at all.
Although the subject matter is interesting, there isn't really any new information in it.
It also jumps around a lot which I found strange and there is a large amount of detail in sections that only really needed a few sentences.
It was obviously a very rushed attempt to cash in on the interest around Matt Smith when he was announced as The Doctor.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but (due to his young age and short career so far) not a lot about himself unfortunately

[Gareth Bowley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. It's not a biography of Matt Smith. The first half of the book is just on the history of Doctor Who. The second half covers Amy Pond and Matt's first series mainly.

[DJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Firstly, whilst I very much enjoyed this informative ( short ) Biographical work - I do feel that it should not be classed as a Biography of Matt Smith - more an insight into how he became the Dr, as the first half of this work is a description of all the episodes in his first season, as well as reviews on other Drs, episodes and histories.
Yes, I did learn a few interesting facts about the show and it was lovely to read that there is a friendship between he and Karen Gillan.

Don Warrington would have been perfect as the first Dr of a different ethnicity - especially appropriate to my mind after his appearing in RISING DAMP 35 odd years ago...
( under no circumstances do I wush to see Idris Elba in the role - shudder ).

I feel this was a rather rushed piece to satisfy the fans and contrary to what Mr Moffat is purported to have said - satisfy a merchandising quota.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/matt-smith-the-biography-by-emily-herbert/

Emily Herbert specialises in celebrity biographies and this is not one of her top rated works on Goodreads or LibraryThing. (For the record, her top-rated works are her biographies of Robin Williams and Lady Gaga.) She does a decent job of making bricks out of straw here, and explains the history of Doctor Who rather well to a target audience whose interest may be less than obsessive. But the really interesting biography (or autobiography) of Matt Smith will be written a couple of decades from now.

[Alexis Taft · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unauthorized biography with mistakes on Matt life. Talks more about him as the Doctor and a lot on the other Doctors. Nice little read with some very lovely photos of Matt.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

To begin with I found it interesting but the author just wrote about the TV show rather than Matt Smith. However, once it got onto the stuff about him, I found it very interesting :) overall, if you're a doctor who fan I would definitely suggest it.

[Jodie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Borrowed this from the library. Not really a biography as such. A lot of it was basically just outlining the plots of different episodes. I guess it is hard to find content for a biography when the subject is so young!