The new Doctor is Matt Smith

The Eleventh Doctor will be Matt Smith.

After keeping us on tenterhooks for the longest half hour of 2009 so far, a special Doctor Who Confidential revealed that 26-year-old Matt Smith, the youngest ever actor to get the keys to the TARDIS, will be the man who David Tennant regenerates into when his spectacularly popular tenure comes to an end in the fourth of the upcoming specials in 2010. So early buzz that Survivors star Paterson Joseph, Robert Carlyle (who's since signed up for new series Stargate Universe) or even Catherine Zeta-Jones might be the Eleventh Doctor were all well off the money. Still, it was fun playing the guessing game - and it was nice that the tabloids didn't manage to spoil it for us (despite Smith's late rise to the position of favourite).

Is he the right choice? Well, although he's far from a household name, he's appeared in a load of British telly, including The Ruby In The Smoke and Party Animals; a man named Smith should find it easy to play a character who regularly goes by the alias of John Smith; and new showrunner Steven Moffat says he saw him on the first day of auditions and everything was right about him. We can't wait to find out what he means...

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