Matt Smith flattered one of his fans by saying that their daughter could the next Doctor Who.

Smith, 33, who played the 11th iteration of the eponymous Time Lord, was speaking on a web-chat with the Guardian.

“I think a lady Doctor could be close – and would be fun,” he told a female fan during the chat.

He advised her: “So practise, practise, practise. And talk really fast. And think really fast. And be really brave. And mad. And silly. And good luck – maybe it will be you!”

Peter Capaldi took over from Matt Smith to become the twelfth Doctor Who – but Billie Piper and Catherine Zeta Jones were also rumoured to have been considered.

Viewers have long voiced a desire for a more diverse cast on the show.

Screenwriter Steven Moffat allegedly agrees, offering the role of the 12th Doctor to a black actor before Capaldi.

“Two non-white leads would be amazing,” he said.

“In fact, a lot of people would barely notice. I certainly don’t think there’s ever been a problem with making the Doctor black, which is why it should happen one day.”

However, the show has seen a steady increase in LGBT characters.

Openly gay actor John Barrowman played Captain Jack Harkness, an immortal space captain, who is explicitly bisexual in the show. The actor has hinted he will return.

A new spin-off series, Class, will also feature a gay main character, in a way that’s said to emulate Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which had a lesbian main character in witch Willow.

Trans actress Rebecca Root last year said that she would ‘love’ to star in Doctor Who, as the next incarnation of the mysterious Time Lord.

Could this mean an LGBT doctor is waiting in the wings?