Matt Smith Returns to Ferguson's LATE, LATE SHOW

Well, better late than never.  Of course, "late" is a very relative concept to a Time Lord...

Doctor Who star Matt Smith finally returned to CBS' The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson last night after a scheduling delay that pushed the airing of his recorded interview back to Friday from four days earlier.  Looking considerably more relaxed than his first appearance on the talk show last November, Smith was introduced to Ferguson's quick impression of the Doctor Who opening credits with the miniature TARDIS replica and a clip from the first Oval Office scene of the first episode of Series Six, "The Impossible Astronaut."

The interview opened with a brief discussion of Smith's recent appearance at the San Diego Comic Con and how Doctor Who is gaining more mainstream popularity in America.  When asked to describe the show to an American who had never seen it, Smith remarked, "It's about a man who time-travels through the universe, saving different races that live on sort of different planets, and sort of sweeps up hot companions and takes them on the way."

Smith then turned the tables on Ferguson, asking him how he would describe it.  "I would describe it in the form of a song," Ferguson replied.  Smith proceeded to start beatboxing a rhythm, resulting in the following song:

My Who main man is Doctor Who
and he goes from a planet that goes to you
He comes down and sweeps up your hot companion
and takes them off to...a place in your area

As Ferguson brought up the subject of a Doctor Who film, Smith commented, "Yeah, you know...I think one day...I think these things take a long time.  And they'll probably cast Johnny Depp...I'll probably be dead or something like that."  Ferguson argued that casting an American in the role would probably be as popular as casting an American in the role of Sherlock Holmes...except for Robert Downey, Jr.  This exchange led to the subject of accents, giving Ferguson's robot skeleton sidekick Geoff Peterson the opportunity to go "Exterminate!  Exterminate!" in a quick impression of the Daleks.

Ferguson later remarked that he wants to appear in a Doctor Who episode, something which I personally feel should happen considering everything Ferguson's done to promote the show in America over the past year.  "I've decided I want to make that happen, too," said Smith, "and guess who's here?  The executive producers are backstage."  Smith then remarked about having a conversation about this, mentioning that Ferguson doesn't get much time off.  Replied Ferguson, "But you put me in Doctor Who, I'll (Censored) quit this."  If the producers were indeed backstage, I have to think there was some genuine discussion about letting Ferguson appear on Doctor Who, if only in a cameo similar to Meredith Vieira's upcoming appearance.

An "awkward pause that shifted through the space/time continuum" took place minutes before the traditional close of Ferguson's interviews when Ferguson brought up how Smith had failed to call Ferguson.  "It's like time and space have gone nuts," said Ferguson.  Because of the earlier awkward pause, Smith opted for the mouth organ close to the segment, sharing a harmonica duet with Ferguson.

And thanks to the kindness of TVsCraigFerguson posting the segment on YouTube, you can watch the full interview here...