Matt Smith has pretended to be Prince Philip on the Tube and taken some "mental baths" as Doctor Who

He told the Sunday Times newspaper: "You feel like a berk but it can be really entertaining. When life's boring you switch into some other guy ...

"[Prince] Philip still creeps back into my life. I'll think, 'I sound like Big Phil, the legend.' I will get on the Tube and do a journey as an entirely different human.

"It passes time. I've had some mental baths pretending I was Doctor Who."

In the interview, Matt went on to reveal he enjoys playing controversial character and worries the entertainment industry is becoming too "dumbed down" by the use of trigger warnings.

He added: "We should be telling morally difficult stories, nowadays in particular. It's OK to feel uncomfortable or provoked while looking at a painting or watching a play, but I worry everything's being dialled and dumbed down.

"We're telling audiences they're going to be scared before they've watched something ... Isn't being shocked, surprised, stirred the point?

"Too much policing of stories and being afraid to bring them out because a climate is a certain way is a shame. I'm not sure I'm on board with trigger warnings. I used to go to a local video shop and get 'Slither', 'Basic Instinct', 'Disclosure' - all these erotic thrillers. I was way too young to be watching them.

"I watched 'Friday the 13th' when I was nine. Actually, that scarred me. Absolutely ruined me."

It comes after the actor admitted he needs to find more "balance" in his life because his work consumes him when he's busy with a project,

He told Variety: "I'm quite dedicated when I work, and it becomes a solitary experience. I probably need more balance. "I get tunnel vision - I don't think I make enough room for a life."