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Just after regenerating, the Eleventh Doctor has a few lines.

DOCTOR: There's something else. Something important. I'm...I'm...I'm...crashing! Ha ha! Woo hoo hoo! Geronimo!

This is from the episode The End of Time: Part Two. This episode was written by Russell T. Davies and indeed was his last episode on the show as lead writer and executive producer.

'Geronimo' went on to become something of a catchphrase for the Eleventh Doctor. He uses it in plenty of other episodes.

So was that term and its place in the episode devised by Davies? Written by Steven Moffat? Improvised by Matt Smith? It perhaps wouldnt be surprising if Moffat wrote the final part of the scene since it was 'his' Doctor and he was taking over as lead writer for series 5. However, Davies is the only credited writer for the episode.

Who decided to use 'Geronimo' in this scene - Davies, Moffat or Smith?

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    Blackwood's answer covers who wrote the first "Geronimo", but you may be interested to know that "Geronimo" as a recurring catchphrase came about mainly because of Matt Smith's ad-libbing. In general, it looks like Davies was into catchphrases and Moffat wasn't.
    – Rand al'Thor ♦
    Commented Jul 9, 2017 at 12:50
  • @Randal'Thor Good point.
    – The Dark Lord
    Commented Jul 9, 2017 at 13:04

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According to Empire Magazine, Steven Moffat wrote the 11th Doctors first words.

Chris Chibnall will write the first words for Peter Capaldi's replacement in the 'Doctor Who' Christmas special.

The 46-year-old television writer will take over from current showrunner Steven Moffat on the popular BBC One sci-fi drama after this year's annual holiday episode, which will also mark the last outing for actor Peter Capaldi, who portrays the titular regenerating Time Lord.

But although Chris doesn't take over the position until after the Christmas special, 55-year-old Steven has given him the honour of penning the first piece of dialogue to be spoken by Peter's yet-to-be-cast replacement.

Steven told Empire magazine: "I haven't completely planned it, but I quite like the insanity of the fact this is a job you quit two pages before you type 'End Titles.'"

The decision emulates the one made by previous showrunner Russell T Davies when he stepped down from the role in 2010, as he let Steven pen the first words to be spoken by Peter's predecessor Matt Smith, who took over from David Tennant.

Web article

Of course, this doesn't rule out the possibility that Davies, Smith, or anyone else suggested the word "Geronimo", but I think the presumption should be that it was Moffat.

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  • Good answer. He mentions that he's still not a ginger, which (if I recall correctly) was a Davies thing from a previous episode. Makes me think he had has some oversight also.
    – The Dark Lord
    Commented Jul 8, 2017 at 8:25

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