Before he was the Doctor Matt Smith almost joined the starting eleven of Footballers’ Wives.

Matt’s sister Laura Jayne told the Daily Mail that while he was a jobbing actor she managed to get him an audition for Earls Park’s FC – a process that involved covering the mad man in a blue box in fake tan, gel and hamstringing him with salmon trousers.

In a massive understatement Jayne commented that:

“He didn’t get the part, which is probably a good thing. That look is definitely not him.”

In an attempt to dramatise the kind of stories now referred to as evidence in the Leveson Inquiry Footballers’ Wives – ITV’s trashy soap which starred Zoe Lucker and Ben Price (like, who? – Ed) – attempted to paint the time around the 90 minutes on the pitch as the new rock ‘n roll.

Running for five series Footballers’ Wives made a household name of Zoe Lucker whose absence from the show after the fourth series blew the whistle on the drama relegating it from our TV screens.