The BBC today announced the identity of the eleventh actor to carry on as Doctor Who’s title character, The Doctor. Their choice, made public by Who Executive Producer Piers Wenger, is the twenty-six year old Matt Smith.
Smith has appeared in the two Sally Lockhart mysteries The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North, which starred former Who companion Billy Piper in the title role. He got the role of The Doctor because, as Wenger puts it, “It was abundantly clear that he had that ‘Doctor-ness’ about him. You are either the Doctor or you are not.”
Smith begins shooting for the next season of Doctor Who later this spring. The final special being shot with David Tennant is expected to air in early 2010 – to be followed later in the year by Smith’s debut in the role.