Matt Smith’s trademark Doctor Who hair, or lack thereof, is the least of Steven Moffat’s worries as he plans the Christmas special. He’s got a plan so our favorite Timelord looks less bald.
Matt Smith filmed Ryan Gossling’s directorial debut, How to Catch a Monster, on his downtime between the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special and the Christmas special. The one things fans noticed straight away was that Smith shaved most of his hair off for the role. Many wondered would the Doctor suddenly favor a buzz cut? Steven Moffat talks about maintaining the 11th Doctor’s signature look in a new interview with EW.
We’re sprinkling fertilizer on his head as we speak. I don’t know. If you care to take a look at “The Angels Take Manhattan” there are a couple of scenes that Karen Gillan came back to do in the graveyard after she’d had her radical haircut and she is wearing what seems like a strategically draped otter on her head. [Laughs]
However we effect it, the Doctor will turn up in his trademark quaff. We can’t have Matt’s last stand in the TARDIS without his proper look. So, thank you, Ryan Gosling…
With any luck, Matt Smith’s wig will look vastly better than Karen Gillan’s. Particularly in the Pond Life mini-episodes, the wig was quite noticeable.
In the same interview, Moffat confirmed what has widely been speculated. The 8th season of Doctor Who will not air until at least summer 2014, and the 12th Doctor will make his debut at the end of the Christmas episode. Moffat toyed around with having the 12th Doctor appear earlier in the episode, but soon realized saving the regeneration for the end of the episode was the only way it was going to work dramatically.
As for when the 12th Doctor will be announced, Moffat doesn’t want to keep it under wraps until Christmas. He’s not dropping any hints about age, race, or sex of the new Doctor, but he’s very aware that the secret won’t hold forever, and anticipates making the announcement within days of the casting being finalized.