Former Doctor Who actor, Matt Smith and Emilia Clarke to appear in Terminator: Genesis

Former Doctor Who Matt Smith has signed up to play an unspecified original role in the new Terminator film.

Studio Paramount said Smith, who last appeared as the flamboyant BBC time lord on Christmas Day, would play a "new character with a strong connection to John Connor". Connor is the leader of the anti-machine resistance in the man versus robots sci-fi saga, and will be played by Zero Dark Thirty's Jason Clarke in Terminator: Genesis.

"The thing is, I've been implanted with a chip where, if I talk about it, my head explodes," said Smith during a question and answer session at Wizard World Minneapolis. "All I can say about Terminator is that I'm very excited to be part of the Terminator franchise because those movies – those first two movies, particularly – are brilliant. Yeah, it's very exciting."

Game of Thrones' Alan Taylor will direct the fifth Terminator movie, which sees Arnold Schwarzenegger return to the role that helped make him famous: that of the relentless T-800. Smith, 31, will also join Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney and JK Simmons in the cast. Clarke will play John Connor's mother Sarah, the character played by Linda Hamilton in the original films and Clarke's Game of Thrones co-star Lena Headey in a spin-off TV series. Courtney portrays another saga stalwart, the time-travelling Kyle Reese.