How Doctor Who’s Major Flop Turned Into Fandom’s Obsession

Summary:

• Doctor Who is a British science fiction drama that follows the adventures of an alien called the Doctor.
• One of the most iconic speeches showing the power of the Doctor was given by Matt Smith 's 11th Doctor.
• The irony, however, is that the speech, which many fans know by heart, led to nothing but failure in the show.

Over the years, there have been so many Doctor Who moments that the fandom regards as iconic that it's impossible to name them all. From silly jokes and clever wordplay to the truly heartbreaking "goodbyes" said in the moments before regeneration, there is something special about each Doctor's performance.

However, the words spoken as threats, delivered in moments of pure outrage, will always hit home in the most special way. The moment Whovians heard the Eleventh Doctor's iconic speech at the end of his very first episode, The Eleventh Hour, was the moment they realized the true power of this incarnation.

The speech that made him truly memorable, however, came much later, in the season finale, The Pandorica Opens. One thing that still doesn't make much sense, though, is how it became so famous, when in fact it only led to devastation for the character himself.

Doctor Who The Pandorica Opens Speech

When the Doctor discovers the Pandorica, he's the first to get there. However, the signal he heard was also picked up by the entire army of other aliens, all of whom held some kind of grudge against him. Surrounded by thousands of intergalactic ships, the Doctor takes a megaphone and delivers one of the most powerful speeches in the show's history.

It's likely that when Matt Smith filmed this scene, he couldn't even imagine the impact it would have on the fandom. The audience learned it word for word and asked him to repeat it at various conventions.

The phrase "Do the smart thing, let somebody else try first" has become a symbol of his incarnation, angry at the state of the world and completely ruthless.

However, in all the excitement, many viewers almost forgot that the Doctor never achieved his goal with that speech. In reality, when the ships cleared the sky and made their way out, they only set up a perfect trap for the hero. Overconfident in his success and ignoring all the red flags, he fell for it and nearly destroyed the universe.

Though, thanks to Steven Moffat's dynamic storytelling, everything was fixed in the second part of the story, the Doctor stayed alive, and the universe as we know it didn't disappear, the popularity of this particular speech remains very ironic.

Like the Doctor himself, Whovians tend to turn a blind eye to the most obvious things.

If you are feeling nostalgic and want to re-watch the entire run of Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor, you can stream it on the BBC iPlayer.