Doctor Who star Matt Smith has been spotted travelling in a manner unusual for the Time Lord.

Smith saddled up in Spain as filming began on a special Wild West episode of the BBC One sci-fi show.

Riding over rocky terrain, the eleventh Doctor appeared to be taking his horseback ride in his stride, with a loose grip and a smile on his face.

Yesterday, we reported Smith and his onscreen sidekick Karen Gillan travelled to Almeria in southern Spain to film in the same landscape where spaghetti westerns such as A Fistful Of Dollars and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly were previously shot.

The gun-slinging scenes, to air in the third episode of the new series, will feature a showdown with a half-human, half-robot in a western town in the Victorian era.

A show source has told The Sun: "Matt and Karen are really excited about the episode. Filming on the same set as a lot of western films, together with the Spanish weather, will give it an epic feel."

A spokesperson for the BBC admits it was cheaper to film in Spain than to reproduce a western set in the UK.

Almeria is open to tourists as a theme park, complete with mock bank hold-ups and shoot-outs