The entertainment industry faces many challenges. One being how to keep things fresh and new for fans, especially when it comes to TV shows that run for several seasons. ‘Doctor Who’ certainly faces that challenge, as the show has been on the air in one form or another for 55 years! Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith addressed the issue of keeping things new and innovative in a recent interview about the show.

Speaking about his exit from Netflix hit, ‘The Crown,’ Smith explained that doing more than two seasons of the show would have been tough, as it is hard on an actor to ensure the show is still at its best after so much time. Smith compared this to his three seasons of ‘Doctor Who’:

“Had it been six seasons [on ‘The Crown’], I might not have done it. I don’t even want to do six seasons of anything really. Look, never say never, but I did four with ‘Doctor Who’ and it’s tough. What shows do you think have been brilliant over five seasons? I think ‘Breaking Bad’ did it. ‘The Sopranos’[…] that’s the greatest. ‘Game of Thrones’…“

Smith went on to say that science fiction shows have more of an uphill battle because it can be easy to recycle things that have been done before. He admitted that this is a problem they faced during his time on ‘Doctor Who’:

“Hopefully that’s why ‘The Crown’ has a chance, I think, because there’s a different kind of setup. You’ve got new actors coming in that are going to be fresh and that’s such a good thing. And also it’s rooted in history. You’re not having to invent too much and that can become a problem, because the great danger of science fiction is if you get caught up in your own mythology, it’s tricky. We found it on ‘Who.’ It’s a tricky thing. You’ve got to be very, very diligent about it all.”

Hopefully, this new era of ‘Doctor Who’ starring Jodie Whittaker as the first ever female incarnation of the Doctor will have plenty of fresh material! The show will have a new showrunner, Chris Chibnall, who has described season 11 as “accessible” and “intended for as wide an audience as possible.” Fans will find out soon enough, when ‘Doctor Who’ returns to BBC America in the fall!