Despite the feelings of both Matt Smith and Steven Moffat, it seems unlikely that Smith will return as a regular on Doctor Who.
Matt Smith has had a good amount of acting work, both on stage and on screen, since his Doctor regenerated into Peter Capaldi’s in the 2013 Doctor Who Christmas special ‘The Time of the Doctor.’ The preceding 50th anniversary special, ‘The Day of the Doctor‘ was the only time that Smith and his good friend Billie Piper (Rose Tyler/Bad Wolf) appeared on the show together, although they did not interact. She recently came to support him in his most recent project, the experimental Anthony Neilson play Unreachable at London’s Royal Court Theatre. In December of 2013, after finishing his regular work on Doctor Who, the musical adaption of American Psycho at London’s Almeida Theatre began, in which he starred as Patrick Bateman.
As for movie roles, he played Bully in Lost River, Alex in Terminator Genisys, and Parson Collins in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Movies yet to be released are Mapplethorpe in which he will play Robert Mapplethorpe, and Patient Zero in which he has as yet unnamed role. He will also be portraying Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh in the upcoming Netflix series The Crown.
Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat did not want Matt Smith to leave after Series Seven. Retrospectively, Smith somewhat regrets leaving the show when he did. Both he and David Tennant have expressed a desire to be on the program again. But while they were fantastic together in ‘The Day of the Doctor,’ and it was nice to see Smith’s brief and surprising cameo in the Series Eight episode ‘Deep Breath,’ there have been no reports that they will return.
Regardless, Nicola Methven of the Mirror speculated that Moffat hinted that Smith could play a future incarnation of the Doctor. This is not even due to anything that Moffat has said, but two reported quotes from Smith, one from “last year,” the other from April.
"“They will ask me back one day, won’t they?”"
Smith was also said to have been “asked by a fan” if he would play the Doctor again, to which he replied:
"“I really want to.”"
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Despite my best efforts, the only corroborating report that I could find for the first quote was in a sketchy post on Facebook. Even if the quote is legit — which it likely is, but just in hardcopy form in Doctor Who Magazine — it is certainly an astounding leap of logic to suggest that this is a possible clue to Smith’s hypothetical return as a future Doctor. The same can be said of the second quote, which I had no luck in tracking down.
It sounds more like Smith was simply being wistful. At most, it could mean that he has some insight into another potential guest appearance. That would be great, but to have an actor who formerly played the Doctor be the product of a new regeneration would rob another actor of the chance to give a fresh take on the Time Lord. And, in this particular instance, it would make it more difficult for incoming showrunner, Chris Chibnall, to progress the show according to his vision.
Smith was a wonderful Doctor, but let’s not live in the past. It is evident that he has a promising career ahead of him in other roles.
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