It’s fair to say that Matt Smith is pretty well-known for his time on Doctor Who, with the former Time Lord still enjoying fan attention and convention appearances four years after he hung up his Tardis keys in 2013.

But it turns out this isn’t always the case, with First Doctor actor David Bradley (set to play William Hartnell’s original role in this year’s Christmas special) recently telling a story at MCM Comic-con London about how he once witnessed Smith go incognito among some oblivious members of the public – despite in front of a massive poster of himself in character as the Eleventh Doctor. Awkward.

“He was great fun,” Bradley said of Smith, who appeared alongside him in Doctor Who behind-the-scenes drama An Adventure in Space and Time.

“In fact, we flew out to San Diego together, for the big comic-con there.

“And we were walking through the forecourt of the airport together at Heathrow, and there was a big display and a stand with a big picture of Matt. More than life-sized.

“And they were promoting the show. And we were walking through the concourse on the way to the gate, and he said ‘Just a minute’ – and he walked right over and said ‘what’s going on here then?’

“And the guy says ‘Oh it’s a Doctor Who thing that we’re doing, hope you like it.’ And nobody clocked him!

“He’d had a bit of a haircut for some other TV he’d done. But amazingly, he was chatting to these people for a few minutes, and nobody clicked that he was… him.”

Sadly, we’ve no idea whether Smith eventually revealed himself to the airport workers, but it’s probably good for keeping the ego in check to have or two people who don’t know who you are at all times. Even the Doctor slips the mind sometimes, it seems…

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this Christmas