Matt Smith talks the future of Doctor Who, and the pressure of taking over from David Tennant

Matt Smith has confirmed that he will be playing the Doctor for another two years, after being so impressed with the idea pitches showrunner Steven Moffat has put to him.

Of the 2013 series The Sun reports Matt said: “His first episode sounds great. It hasn’t been written yet but the idea is as brilliant and as mental as you’d expect from Steven. So there’s a lot to look forward to.

“When Steven was going to pitch the next season to me not long ago, he said, ‘Are you ready to cry?’”

Matt also said Steven Moffat will treat the upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations next year from a fans perspective: “We want to do 50 years — and everyone that’s been associated with the show — justice. We want to go, ‘Look, world, here is Doctor Who. It’s 50 years old, a science-fiction show, still going and going from strength to strength’.

“Steven will do something brilliant. He’ll do something grand or maybe something very simple but he’ll come to it as a fan. “He’ll go, ‘What would I want to see?’ ”

However despite his love of playing the legendary timelord in the BBC sci-fi show Matt admits to reservations, saying he initially struggled with the pressure of taking on the role after popular actor David Tennant left: “If you remember, when I took over, no one thought it would work. I was ‘too young’. David (Tennant) had come from a stellar era. I was unknown.

“For a month or two when I started I was like, ‘This is impossible. I can’t’ — just the pressure of it. Everyone was sort of going, ‘Go on, show us what you’ve got.’ I told myself, ‘If I can get through this I can get through anything’.”

Matt Smith can be seen in ‘Doctor Who’ Series seven when it returns at the end of August on BBC One.