Doctor Who's 3D 50th anniversary special will be 'like the Bourne Identity with motorcycles'

Actor Matt Smith has said Doctor Who fans can look forward to it being the "biggest, best, most inventive and most exciting year for the show" as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.

The first episode of the new series hits television screens next month and sees the Time Lord defy gravity by roaring up the side of the Shard building on a motorbike.

A special 3D anniversary show will also be broadcast in November but Smith and co-star Jenna-Louise Coleman, who plays his latest assistant, are remaining tight-lipped about what viewers can expect.

Smith said he clapped when he read the script.

"It sort of does what it says on the tin, you won't be disappointed," he said.

"I think it's hilarious, I think it's epic and I think it's fast and I'm telling you nothing more but you will not be disappointed.

"I think it's going to be the biggest, best, most inventive and most exciting year for the show and I think this script delivers on all those points that you want it to for where the show is at this time, it's brilliant."

Coleman said: "It pays homage to the last 50 years of the show and kind of really celebrates that, but at the same time as looking forward."

The pair were speaking at a special screening of the first episode of series eight in London.

The Bells of St John is described as a modern day urban thriller and sees the duo battling a new adversary, the Spoonheads, against a backdrop of London landmarks including Westminster Bridge and the Shard as they discover something sinister lurking in the Wi-Fi.

Smith said: "It's sort of Doctor Who meets the Bourne Identity with motorcycles. We've got Celia Imrie being saucy and sexy, we have got aliens in your Wi-Fi, Westminster, the Shard, London - present day, with the Tardis in the middle of it."

He said he thought Coleman had made a "brilliant" start in her role as Clara Oswald.

"She's inventive, she works tirelessly hard. And I'm really proud of what she's achieved," he added.

"After the Ponds I think the doctor was a little blue, and I think she's reignited his curiosity in the universe and her impossibility has sort of awakened his mind and his soul and I think that's something that we'll see grow and evolve as the series continues."

Former Emmerdale star Coleman said she had had a "wonderful" time on the show so far.

She added: "It's such a unique job. I can honestly say there really is no job like Doctor Who. You can be a big kid at work and run down the corridors being chased by monsters and the scripts are just absolutely fantastic."

Speaking of Smith, she said: "He's just an absolute genuine joy, he's been absolutely so supportive and totally and utterly there for me and he's a really good friend."

Executive producer and lead writer Steven Moffat said the new series would see Doctor Who's biggest secret revealed.

"We're not kidding, we are actually going to do it, we're going to reveal his biggest secret," he said.