It's almost the end of Matt Smith's era as the Eleventh Doctor on Doctor Who...and he's trying to prepare for the moment.
Days after showing up for the Doctor Who panel at San Diego Comic Con, Smith returned for his fourth appearance on CBS' The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Last night's segment opened with a clip from the Doctor Who Series Seven finale, "The Name of the Doctor," showing the cliffhanger of John Hurt introduced as "The Doctor" that teases the upcoming 50th Anniversary Special.
Smith entered wearing a rather dapper grey Christian Dior suit and still sporting considerably shorter hair that was cut and shaved for the filming of Ryan Gosling's movie How to Catch a Monster. He and Ferguson briefly discussed their time at the Doctor Who panel, which Ferguson moderated, and how the crowd of 7,000 people "went mad" for the 50th Anniversary Special trailer that was shown exclusively at the convention. Smith mentioned that the trailer has yet to be leaked online, because showrunner Steven Moffat asked everyone not to, but the rest of the panel can be seen HERE. Ferguson brought up the considerable fan ire from Whovians that weren't able to attend the panel and have been prevented from seeing the trailer, so Smith and Ferguson apologized on behalf of the panel.
When asked if he was done filming Doctor Who, Smith confirmed he comes back for one more episode, the 2013 Christmas Special that will feature his Doctor's regeneration scene into the Twelfth Doctor. Smith thanked Ferguson for having the miniature TARDIS replica on his desk, which Ferguson replied "That's actually the outside of this studio" in a nod to the TARDIS being bigger on the inside (or smaller on the outside).
Ferguson asked Smith if he plans on moving to America to become a film star after leaving Doctor Who. "I'll try," Smith responded, "I'll move to America and have a go." Smith also mentioned that he would rather live in New York than Los Angeles, if only because he hates to drive in Los Angeles. Smith then name-dropped his friend Firefly and Castle actor Nathan Fillion, saying "I just turned up at his house, he made me some lunch and he was like, 'Do you wanna borrow my car?'"
Ferguson brought up the subject of Smith having no privacy in Britain, which Smith shrugged off. "Well, I don't know about that," he said. "Listen, the closest I'll get to being a rock star is Hall H in San Diego."
Asked if he was nervous about leaving the role of the Doctor behind, Smith responded, "I'm sad, but you know, one has to move on. You can't do it forever." Ferguson cheekily suggested it was time for Smith to do some slasher movies or maybe porn.
During a few times in the interview, Smith kept accidentally touching Ferguson's leg with his hand, which caused Smith to recall a game he used to share with former Doctor Who actress Karen Gillan. "It would be the first day on set for any actor, it could be (Michael) Gambon, it could be anyone, and they come onto set and every day and it's called The Uncomfortable Touch." He then described how you take the hand of the eager guest actor/actress, start casually talking to them, and see how long it would take for them to pull their hand away.
Smith later brought up that he "had no idea that William and Kate (the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge) had a baby...until just now" when he discussed the subject with Ferguson's makeup people. "You're the worst British person in the world," remarked Ferguson. Smith mentioned that he recently met Prince Charles, who stopped by the Doctor Who TARDIS console room set with his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
Ferguson closed the segment by telling Smith how excited and proud he was of Smith's tough decision to leave Doctor Who. "Listen, because you've been so nice to me and you've got the TARDIS on your desk," said Smith, "and you've always supported the show...If I ever, you know, come into any success and fame and win an award, I'll come and see you first."
"Well, you'll regret saying that," replied Ferguson.
If you'd like to see the full interview, you can view it below thanks to YouTube user BrickleberryC...