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"Former Doctor Who companion Katy Manning has described Matt Smith as &amp;quot;an education to watch&amp;quot;.  The actress, who played Jo Grant in the BBC sci-fi drama between 1971 and 1973, suggested that her Doctor Who co-star Jon Pertwee would be &amp;quot;very proud&amp;quot; of his successor.   Asked if she is still a fan of the show, Manning replied: &amp;quot;Ever since Christopher Eccleston came out of that goddamn box I&amp;#039;ve loved it. All the new Doctors are brilliant. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s an education to watch [Matt&amp;#039;s] beautifully realised physicality as the Doctor. I said to him, &amp;#039;Jon Pertwee would be very proud of what you&amp;#039;re doing with this character&amp;#039;.&amp;quot; Manning added that she thought Russell T Davies &amp;quot;absolutely nailed&amp;quot; her character in a 2010 episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures, which saw her star alongside Smith and the late Elisabeth Sladen.    &amp;quot;It was the first time I&amp;#039;d actually worked with Lis, although we&amp;#039;d already become close friends,&amp;quot; she explained to the Radio Times. &amp;quot;We had a lot of past with Jon that bonded us.  &amp;quot;When I was a newbie at conventions, she really helped me through. After she died, I said in an interview she was the quintessential Doctor Who girl. And I really meant it.&amp;quot; Jenna-Louise Coleman was announced as the latest Doctor Who companion in March, replacing Smith&amp;#039;s current colleague Karen Gillan. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/doctor-who/news/a378406/doctor-who-matt-smith-is-an-education-says-ex-star-katy-manning/>