TV's most famous time-traveller, Doctor Who began in 1963, and seven actors played the Doctor before the show was dropped by the BBC in 1989.
After a (disappointing) TV movie in 1996 - starring Paul McGann - the TV series returned in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the lead role. David Tennant took over the same year, but said last October that he would stand down from the show after filming four special episodes in 2009. The last of these special episodes is expected to run in early 2010.
So began the search for the next Doctor - which ended today with the announcement from the BBC that actor Matt Smith will take over from one of the most popular actors ever to play the role, as the 11th Timelord in the long-running sci-fi series.
Smith was cast over Christmas and will begin filming for the fifth series of Doctor Who in the summer. He will first appear on TV screens as the 11th Doctor in 2010. At 26, Smith is the youngest actor ever to take the role - three years younger than Peter Davison when he signed up to play the fifth Doctor in 1981.
Who on earth is Matt Smith?
Matt Smith????
Never seen him before today, so I haven't got a clue if he will be any good or not. But he has a tough act to follow.
Personally I'd have liked to see someone older to portray the Doctor. Smith's hairstyle makes him look as if he just escaped out of an Alberto VO5 ad, and he does look slightly...goofy, but I suppose that goofiness worked in his favour.
It would be easy to get cynical and accuse the BBC of selecting a younger doctor to make the show more trendy and popular with the 12-21 age group (which would be a big mistake on the Beeb's part, if this selection backfires).
We'll just have to wait until next year to see if he's any good. Who knows? This youngster might just surprise us all...
Previous Timelords:
- William Hartnell (1963-1966)
- Patrick Troughton (1966-1969)
- Jon Pertwee (1970-1974)
- Tom Baker (1974-1981)
- Peter Davison (1982-1984)
- Colin Baker (1984-1986)
- Sylvester McCoy (1987-1996)
- Paul McGann (1996)
- Christopher Eccleston (2005)
- David Tennant (2005-2010)
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