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The Eleventh Doctor's bow ties are hiding a secret, but did you spot what it is?
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00:00He's the Doctor who thought bow ties, fezzers, and stetsons were cool.
00:03He's the Doctor who married River Song, visited his own grave, and journeyed to the center of the TARDIS.
00:08He is the 11th Doctor.
00:10Matt Smith took the show to new international heights, and became an instant fan favorite back in 2010.
00:16This year marks a decade since he regenerated, so it's a good time to reflect on the many cool details of the Raggedy Man's era.
00:23I'm Crispy with Who Culture, and welcome to 10 Things You Didn't Know About the 11th Doctor.
00:27Number 10. His hair was very problematic.
00:31The 11th Doctor's quiff is almost as iconic as his bow tie, but it was also something of a continuity nightmare.
00:37This was a particular problem in The Time of Angels, the first story Matt Smith filmed, with the actor's wild hair magically changing lengths between scenes.
00:44For the beach scenes at the start of the episode, Smith had a much messier hairstyle, with his fringe hanging over his eyes.
00:50Coupled with windy conditions, this had the unfortunate effect of obscuring his face, with showrunner Stephen Moffat likening him to the Dulux dog.
00:58The earliest scene in the museum was filmed months later, by which point the crew had established what they wanted to do with Smith's hair.
01:04The overall silhouette remained, but the fringe was cut shorter, and in a much more continuity-friendly way.
01:09This also explains why the 11th Doctor's hair gets progressively neater, and less chaotic over the course of his next two series.
01:16Number 9. Who was inspired by Indiana Jones?
01:19What inspired the 11th Doctor?
01:20The second Doctor, Patrick Troughton?
01:22Albert Einstein?
01:23Discussing his costume on Doctor Who Confidentials, Smith identified another unlikely reference point in the form of Hollywood's greatest archaeologist.
01:30He said,
01:31Stephen Moffat described the 11th Doctor as a cross between Indiana Jones and Stan Laurel, so this was clearly more than just a passing thought.
01:44Although the comparison might seem strange at first, there's definitely something indie about Smith's outfit, particularly with its tan colour scheme.
01:51Its resemblance to the bow tie slash tweed suit worn by Indy in Temple of Doom is uncanny,
01:55and nowhere are the comparisons more on the nose than in Series 6 when the Doctor dons the Stetson hat.
02:01And hey, if Smith still wants to play the Doctor at the same age Harrison Ford just played Indy,
02:05that means he can appear in Doctor Who's 100th anniversary in 2063.
02:09I mean, just imagine!
02:11Number 8. He encountered a record number of duplicates.
02:14Most Doctors have to contend with duplicates of Sunsword, be it evil lookalikes or literal splinters of themselves,
02:20and the 11th Doctor was no exception.
02:22He came face to fleshy face, with a double ganger in The Rebel Flesh slash Almost People,
02:26but the Flesh wasn't the only entity to seal this Doctor's likeness.
02:30Prisoner Zero did the same thing in The 11th Hour, as did the Tessa Lecter in The Wedding of River Song.
02:34Then there's the Spoonhead that impersonates the Doctor in The Bells of St. John,
02:38and Mr. Clever in Nightmare in Silver.
02:40And that's without even mentioning all the cases where timey-wimey shenanigans resulted in two Matt Smiths appearing on screen.
02:45There's the Dead Future Doctor in The Big Bang,
02:48the Wibbly Lever Doctor in the Comic Relief Minnesota Time,
02:51the Deryllium Doctor in the DVD Minnesota Last Night,
02:54and the Big Friendly Button Doctor in Journey to the Center of the TARDIS.
02:57The 11th Doctor also encounters another copy of himself in Let's Kill Hitler,
03:01when the TARDIS' voice interface briefly assumes his form.
03:04This is surely some kind of record.
03:06BBC bosses clearly realize you can never have too much Matt Smith.
03:10Number 7.
03:10He increased bow tie sales by over 90%.
03:13Few Doctor Who costumes can be regarded as genuinely fashionable,
03:17and few Doctor Who costume designers can be described as genuine trendsetters.
03:20But the bow tie and tweed ensemble devised by Ray Holman for Matt Smith's Doctor
03:25made waves in a way that nobody could have predicted.
03:27Matt Smith's debut series began at the start of April 2010,
03:31with bow ties are cool quickly becoming one of his trademark lines.
03:34Plenty of people agree with him too.
03:36By the end of the month,
03:37The Telegraph was reporting that the bow tie had enjoyed a surge in popularity,
03:41thanks to the 11th Doctor,
03:42with UK retailer Topman citing an insane 94% increase in sales.
03:47It's an even more impressive feat when you consider by this point,
03:50only four episodes of series 5 had aired.
03:52We can only imagine how many bow ties were sold over the following weeks and beyond.
03:56It also makes you wonder what the Doctor's next viral fashion accessory might be.
04:00Will the fedora had experienced a resurgence following Shooty Gatwa's debut this Christmas?
04:04Only time will tell.
04:06Number 6.
04:06He almost wasn't played by Matt Smith.
04:09Every actor who plays the Doctor ends up becoming synonymous with the character,
04:12and there's always a rigorous audition process to find the show's new lead.
04:16Stephen Moffat has since stated that he was initially looking for an older Doctor for number 11,
04:21and although Matt Smith emerged as the favourite,
04:23lots of other actors were seen for the role.
04:25One potential candidate was Chewy Tell Ejiofor,
04:28wildly believed to be the actor who was offered the part but turned it down.
04:31Him aside, the rumour mill had its own ideas,
04:34with Patterson Joseph, Sean Pertwee,
04:36and even Billy Piper speculated to be in the running.
04:39Meanwhile, outgoing showrunner Russell T. Davis,
04:41who had, of course, stoked the fire himself
04:43by including a fake-out regeneration in the Stolen Earth,
04:46and titling the 2008 Christmas special The Next Doctor,
04:49wanted to see Alonzo actor Russell Tovey in The Rock.
04:52These are all exciting suggestions in their own right,
04:54but no one can deny that Smith was born to play the 11th Doctor.
04:58Number 5.
04:59He has history with the Master.
05:01Although the 10th, 12th, and 13th Doctors all got their own masters,
05:05the 11th Doctor did not.
05:06But he has more connections with his Time Lord foe than you might think.
05:10For one thing, the first and last episodes to feature Matt Smith
05:13both included incarnations of the Master,
05:15John Sim in The End of Time,
05:16and Michelle Gomez in Deep Breath.
05:18Sure, they didn't actually meet, but it's still something.
05:21Where the 11th Doctor did come face-to-face with the Master
05:23was in the expanded universe,
05:25in the IDW comic book story Prisoners of Time.
05:28Then, Titan Comics introduced a brand new incarnation of the Master,
05:31resembling a young boy,
05:32in their second year of the 11th Doctor adventures.
05:35This Master never actually crossed paths with Smith's Doctor,
05:38but caused plenty of trouble for him behind the scenes.
05:40All things considered,
05:41the 11th Doctor has been adjacent to all the main Masters,
05:44save for Delgado and Dewan.
05:45Not bad for a Doctor who never met the character on TV.
05:49Number 4.
05:49His trademark dance was completely improvised.
05:52The 11th Doctor was something of a trailblazer,
05:54inventing the quadricycle,
05:56Yorkshire puddings,
05:57fish custard,
05:58pasta,
05:58and more.
05:59However, one of his most enduring innovations,
06:01if not the most enduring,
06:02was devised by Matt Smith himself.
06:04Upon arriving at Amy and Rory's wedding,
06:06the Doctor declares that he only came for the dancing,
06:08before breaking into a routine of the iconic drunk giraffe.
06:11As Karen Gillum recalled in Doctor Who Confidential,
06:14this iconic arm-shaking action was ad-libbed by Smith on the day.
06:17She said,
06:18Matt had to do this dance.
06:19It was written,
06:20obviously,
06:20that he's a terrible dancer.
06:22But Matt made up this whole routine.
06:24Arthur Darville concurred and said,
06:25that's just how he dances.
06:27With Stephen Moffat adding,
06:28he's incredibly athletic,
06:29and graceful in his own way.
06:31It's hardly the most stylish dance ever,
06:33but it was a hit with the kids at the Pond's wedding,
06:35and a whole generation of young fans watching at home.
06:38Maybe don't go doing it at weddings though,
06:40I don't know.
06:41Number 3.
06:41He has more stories than any New Who Doctor.
06:44Which Doctor has the most stories?
06:46It's always a contentious topic,
06:48not least because there are so many different ways to count.
06:50Is Flux one story,
06:52or six?
06:53Are two-parters one story,
06:54or two?
06:54And is Utopia,
06:55The Sound of Drums,
06:56and The Last of the Time Lords really a three-parter?
06:58Well, whichever way you square it,
07:00The Eleventh Doctor comes out on top compared to every other new series Doctor.
07:04Counting two-parters as one story,
07:05and Utopia as a standalone,
07:07each series of RTD contains 10 stories.
07:10Accounting for special leaves The Ninth Doctor with 10 stories in total,
07:13and The Tenth Doctor with 37.
07:14In contrast,
07:15The Eleventh Doctor had a more inconsistent series structure,
07:18with more standalone episodes,
07:19and fewer two-parters.
07:21Series 5 was 10 stories long,
07:22while Series 6 had 11.
07:23Meanwhile, Series 7 was entirely comprised of single-part adventures,
07:27and a whopping 13 of them.
07:29With specials added into the mix,
07:30The Eleventh Doctor's story total stands at an impressive 39,
07:33which is more than The Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctors too.
07:36So yes, we're all stories in the end,
07:38but The Eleventh Doctor more than most.
07:40Number 2.
07:41His bow ties were colour-coded.
07:43The Eleventh Doctor certainly had good dress sense,
07:45but was there more to his outfits than meets the eye?
07:47It's not an exact science,
07:49but some fans have noticed that the colour scheme of The Doctor's bow tie in Series 5,
07:53corresponds to the time period he's visiting.
07:55Red for future and present,
07:56and blue for the past.
07:58Just as The Thirteenth Doctor's magenta t-shirt tended to appear more in historical stories,
08:02so did The Eleventh Doctor's blue bow tie,
08:04featuring in all three Series 5 historicals,
08:07Victory of the Daleks,
08:08The Vampires of Venice,
08:09and Vincent and the Doctor.
08:10On the other hand,
08:11most of the contemporary and future-set stories of Series 5 feature the red bow tie.
08:15The only exceptions to this rule are The Lodger,
08:17which he uses the blue outfit,
08:18The Pandorica Open slash Big Bang,
08:20which uses the red one,
08:21and Amy's choice,
08:22which uses both.
08:23The bow tie rule also continues into Series 6,
08:26though again,
08:26there are a few exceptions.
08:28We knew bow ties were cool,
08:29but this takes things to a whole new level.
08:31Number 1.
08:32His most iconic moment almost didn't happen.
08:35The Eleventh Doctor had countless memorable moments,
08:37from his speeches in The Pandorica Opens and The Rings of Akaten,
08:40to intimidating Colonel Runaway and riding up the Shard.
08:43But one of his defining scenes wasn't conceived of until,
08:47ahem,
08:47the Eleventh Hour.
08:48Towards the end of the Series 5 opener,
08:50the Doctor unmasks Prisoner Zero and hands him over to the Atraxi.
08:54The all-seeing aliens swiftly depart,
08:56only to be called back by the Doctor for a scolding.
08:58If this scene seems a little tacked on,
09:00that's because it was,
09:01as Stephen Moffat admitted during the Eleventh Hour's lockdown tweet-along.
09:05The episode originally didn't include this moment,
09:07but BBC executive Jane Tranter,
09:09who would go on to co-fund Bad Wolf,
09:11the company now producing Doctor Who,
09:12had other ideas,
09:13arguing that the episode needed a big,
09:15swaggering hero moment for Matt Smith.
09:17And thank goodness she did.
09:19Not only does this scene cement Smith as the Doctor,
09:21it's easily one of the Eleventh's most iconic moments to boot.
09:24Not bad for something so last minute.
09:26And that is our list.
09:27Let us know your thoughts in the comments below,
09:29and if I missed anything,
09:30don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.
09:33You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram,
09:34at WhoCulture,
09:35and you can follow myself by looking up
09:37CrispyPro on YouTube.
09:39I've been Crispy with WhoCulture,
09:40and in the words of the Eleventh Doctor,
09:41Geronimo.
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