In defense of Matt Smith...

There has been a great deal of discussion as to Matt Smith's fitness for the role of the eleventh Doctor. Many people believe that he is not the right actor for the job, that he in essence is not able to "fill David Tennant's shoes."

But I honestly believe that most of the people who are making this claim, are newbie fans, just hopping on board with Nine, or worse yet, Ten. They don't get the whole thing about Doctor Who. He changes, for better,  worse, cuter, goofier, or smarter, and any other adjectives you can think of. He is never the same man twice, so why would one be required to fill the other shoes, he'd store those shoes in the massive dressing room and never look at them again.

Matt doesn't have to be David, he has to be himself. He has some disadvantages

• He's MUCH younger then we are used to for a Doctor 
• He's got a new writing staff who are working themselves out and finding their place
• He's following an awesome actor who played the role for a chunk of time, longer then Christopher Eccleston. Which made the transition to Matt more difficult. 
• New Doctors often keep the previous Doctor's Companion, for at least a short time, to help with the transition, Matt didn't have that option. 

I think once Steven Moffet finds his place and Matt settles down into his role, we are going to see great things out of him. He already has a quirky manner that I personally find endearing. I like his interactions with Amy, and he certainly has enthusiasm to spare. 

I have been a fan of Doctor Who for more years then I care to count outloud, let's just say Tom Baker was my first and I have counted myself as a Companion Wanna-Be every since. Every new regeneration has it's naysayers, and complainers, but with each new actor we get new and interesting dimensions of the Doctor to appreciate. There were those who didn't like Sylvester McCoy, but he turned out to be one of my favorites! 

So, instead of pointing out the weaknesses of Eleven, I am going to make an effort to see the good parts, and enjoy watching him evolve into his own. And if Darwin forbid he doesn't ever make something of himself, I can rest assured in the knowledge that there will mostly likely be a Twelve ;)