Matt Smith's My London

'Once I was stopped by anti-terrorist police. I must have been looking particularly dodgy'

10 April 2012

Where do you stay in London?
When I was in between houses I stayed in hotels for about six months. I liked the Charlotte Street Hotel because of the service. It's classy.

What advice would you give a tourist?
Take the Tube to Mornington Crescent and go to Asakusa, a great Japanese restaurant.

What's the best meal you've had?
Oysters at J Sheekey before going to see Jude Law and Ruth Wilson in Anna Christie at the Donmar.

What's your earliest London memory?
Waiting for my sister, who was a dancer in Saturday Night Fever, at the London Palladium stage door when I was 12.

What's the most romantic thing someone's done for you?
I was picked up in an old vintage car and driven to the Lyric in Hammersmith and then on to Scott's for dinner by my ex-girlfriend, Daisy [Lowe].

What's your biggest extravagance?
Shopping at Dover Street Market and eating out a lot.

How would like the first line of your obituary to read?
'Loving father and die-hard Blackburn Rovers fan with sugar cravings, who had a passion for otters'

Do you have a recurring dream?
That I can't run as fast as I want to.

What's the first thing you do when you arrive back home?
Go for a pint with my chums at The Flask
in Highgate Village or The Engineer in Primrose Hill.

If you could live in any building which would it be?
Centre Point for the views. I'd decorate each floor with a different theme.

What animal would you like to be?
A golden eagle: they can fly, they're graceful and they're top of the food chain.

Which shops do you rely on?
For clothes I like Dover Street Market and Acne. For vintage I go to Mint just off Seven Dials. For shoes it's Church's and Russell & Bromley. I often pass Primrose Hill Books and want to go in but I haven't yet... For a good Sunday roast I go to The Red Lion & Sun in Highgate Village, and for a meat-free meal I'll go to the vegan restaurant Vantra in Soho.

What would you do as Mayor for a day?
Give the majority of the budget over to the arts. They've been wrongfully stripped of funding.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given?
My dad told me: 'It's not the disappointments, it's how you get over them that counts.'

What do you most like wearing?
My Beastie Boys T-shirt and the lace-up boots I wear as Doctor Who.

Which is your favourite club?
The Groucho. I've been going there for years.

What are your favourite London discoveries?
The fry-ups at Julie's in Holland Park.

What was the last album you downloaded?
One of Benny Goodman's albums. Good dinner-party music.

Have you ever had a run-in with a policeman?
I was running for a train, on my way to film in Bristol, when I was stopped by anti-terrorist police for a routine check. I ended up missing my train and being late for my call. I must have been looking particularly dodgy.

What was the last play you saw?
One Man, Two Guvnors at the National. It's the best thing I saw all year. James Corden was on fine form.

Where did you last go on holiday?
The Maldives with Daisy earlier this year. We snorkelled with turtles, cycled a lot and ate well. I also went to Paris when Daisy was working there. We had some great meals and walked along the river.

What are you most looking forward to about Christmas?
Being with my family, eating lots, and watching TV and football on Boxing Day.

What's the best Christmas present you've ever received?
A snooker table - although my SEGA Mega Drive comes close. I also used to love getting pyjamas and wearing them all day.

What would you do for an alternative Christmas?
I'd spend it somewhere really warm, like South America, and have a barbecue on the beach.

The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe is on BBC One on Christmas Day

MORE ABOUT

Blackburn Rovers

Matt Smith's My London

Read More