For all that are Whovian ( the Daleks know 'Who' you are):

LONDON (Reuters) ? A relative unknown will take over the title role of Doctor Who in the British science fiction television show, making him the 11th time lord in 45 years to travel across the universe in the Tardis time-ship.

Matt Smith, 26, will make his debut in 2010, replacing David Tennant who leaves at the end of this year. He is the youngest actor to play the part.

The BBC revealed the identity of the new Dr. Who during a special edition of "Doctor Who Confidential" on Saturday.

"I'm just so excited about the journey that is in front of me," Smith said in a statement.

"The challenge for me is to do justice to the show's illustrious past, my predecessors and most importantly to those who watch it. I really cannot wait."

The role was originated in 1963 by William Hartnell. His successors included Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, and Christopher Eccleston.

Lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat said it took a special actor to play the doctor.

"You need to be old and young at the same time, a boffin and an action hero, a cheeky schoolboy and the wise old man of the universe," Moffat said. "As soon as Matt walked through the door and blew us away with a bold and brand new take on the Time Lord, we knew we had our man."

Smith has previously appeared on TV, in films and the theater. He is best known for appearing in the BBC adaptation of Phillip Pullman's "The Ruby In The Smoke."

So Matt Smith will be playing John Smith. Somehow appropriate! Of course, only the real Who geek will get that comment...

I'll miss David (my daughter is really bummed out over his leaving) but we have to move on. I think David has done a superb job and in fact I probably agree with his current fan rating as the "best" Doctor ever (although Tom Baker is always a tough act to follow).

Essentially, I think that each of us has a Doctor we think of as "our own". In many cases, it's the first Doctor you remember seeing. For me, the first Doctor I saw was Pertwee, I really liked his earthbound stories. It also helps that Jon and I became friends in the 80's after he had left the role... my wife and I had many fun times with Jon and his wife Inge.

I frankly wish they had chosen an older Doctor this time, otherwise he is becoming Benjamin Button and getting younger all the time. I think the young Doctors invite crushes and the like from the companions, such as the thing with Rose which I think went too far. An older Doctor (more of a fatherly figure) would have been interesting.

Well, time will tell (excuse the pun).

I have to agree about Tennant. If Tom Baker is the Sean Connery of Whos', then Tennan is by far the Pearce Brosnan. Although I wish they'd gone with Bill Nighey for the role, who was hoping to get the call.


And I got it Wasmith >_>

I wonder if his companion will be a Jones. Hmm. Though I'm guessing it'll be either a younger River Song or his daughter.

Someone like Bill Nighey would have been a great choice, although I wonder if he would have done an "Eccleston" and leave after a season or so. We have to have Doctor's sign on for at least 3 years, we're running out of incarnations! After Matt Smith (Doctor 11) we only have 2 left... of course, if the Master can do it, maybe the Doctor can.

After the "abbreviated" 2009 season, I hope 2010 will see the return of Gallifrey (or at least more Time Lords). And I hope they do more with River Song (as you suggested Yunners)... I really want to know how she fits in. Russell T. Davies described her as "sort of the Doctor's wife"...

Quote:

XXXXXXXXXXXX

OK....I, too, agree with Yunners about Ms. Riversong or the Doctor's 'Daughter'...but, there is something else to think about...

I presume you bothe saw the episode "Last of the Time-Lords"? There is a bit of a question as to 'Who' / whom it was that picked up the masters' ring. There are those that say it was the Rani. If it was...then might I state that the Doctor is NOT the last of the time-lords? Then, of course, there's always "Susan"...the 'Grand-daughter' that was left behind in the 1st Doctor's episode "The Dalek Invasion of Earth"; played by Carole Ann Ford. Several novels, noteably "Legacy of the Daleks" and "Lungbarrow" show how Her life went on after being left behind with David Campbell, the Dalek fighter She fell in love with in the 22nd century. However, as of this date, ( 07 January, 2009 ), none of these stories have been announced as 'canon'...therefore, they can not be taken as anything but possibilites.

There's also the young lady cloned from the 10th Doctor, in "The Doctor's Daughter"...'Jenny'. IF She has all the "gifts" of a Time-Lord...then, there's a chance the species won't die out ( No, I'm not talking about incest here...I'm talking about in-vitro fertilization, donor eggs / sperm....and genetic cross-breeding. There have gotta be other worlds where this kinda stuff can be done...look at the Sontarons, for example ). Also, if you remember, there was that incident at the end of "The Curse of Fatal Death"...where He regenerated into a 14th Doctor...and female at that. Well...we shall have to wait and see...bet the BBC does come up with something, though...can't see them wasting their famous 'cash cow' anytime soon.

My favorite 'Doctor'? #7...Sylvestor McCoy...followed by Davison, then Eccleston. Favorite Companion? The 'Brig', followed byt 'Ace'.

I'm pretty sure the ring was picked up by The Master's wife. She was wearing red nail varnish at the time. It was my guess that shooting him was something they both had planned and the ring was somehow his ticket out, something akin to the fobwatch.
Although that's veering a bit towards Sauronville.

That my prediction anyhoo.

Quote:
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hmmm...you got a good point there, Yunners. Sort of a 'fall-back' base, if needed? Might be...might be, indeed.

WAS...any thoughts? (seems like we're the only one commenting here on THIS thread...)

I'll have to go back and watch the episode again. I recall that the Master refused to regenerate (implying that he could in fact do so) but he preferred "ultimate death" rather than be a prisoner again. The female hand that grabbed the ring did in fact have red fingernail polish but I can't come up with a reason that's important.

As to it being the Rani, I know that there was mention of it, per the Wiki excerpt below:

"Russell T. Davies jokingly refers to it as "the hand of the Rani", and also states that they will not be picking up on that scene next year ? he just put it in there to give any future production teams something to use if they want to bring back the Master. In Doctor Who Magazine, Davies explains that he "didn't know the Rani was that well known" and that the hand was not actually intended to represent the Rani."

Getting back to the issue of only a couple more regenerations for the Doctor, I end up recapping how the Master got around this... there's still some explaining to do, in my opinion:

Master Timeline
The first master was the Roger Delgado version. We never saw if there were any regenerations of this version, but we saw him in two Tom Baker episodes as a shriveled up rotting skeleton kind of thing. This was said to be his final body... but he managed to hijack Tremas's body on Traken (played by Anthony Ainley). We never really saw how long this version of the Master lasted, because in the 1996 movie (which has now been established as canon) it was said that the Master had reached the end of his incarnations (yeah, right) and his final body had been "exterminated" on Skaro. But then he survived as a green blob that possessed Eric Roberts. The last we saw of him, he fell into the Eye of Harmony (that somehow became part of the TARDIS and not at the center of Gallifrey, which is another story...).

So I would like to know how we went from the human body of Eric Roberts to Professor Yana, who then regenerates into "Mister Saxon" which cleverly is an anagram of "Master No. Six".

And if we can get a new set of bodies for the Master, can we do it for the Doctor when the time comes?

It's all so damn complicated...

It's important because the Master's Wife had red nail polish on at the time.

Wait...........WHO?

Quote:

Thanks, JR, for your 2-words worth.

This was on Yahoo News Blog at 2048hrs, 11 Jan 2009:

Dr Who sidekick may be a Kiwi
Sunday News | Sunday, 11 January 2009

Email a Friend | Printable View | Have Your Say
IN THE RUNNING: Kiwi actress Gina Bellman is reportedly in the running for the role as Doctor Who's assistant.

Related Links
Dr Who? BBC chooses newcomer
Subscribe to Archivestuff
Have your say

Advertisement
AdvertisementThe latest Doctor Who, Matt Smith, will have a new assistant when he steps into the Tardis next year and she could very well have a Kiwi accent.


Rumours of who it will be began after the shock announcement that virtual unknown Matt, 26, will take over as Time Lord from David Tennant early in 2010.

Gina Bellman, 42, from New Zealand, who has appeared in Jekyll and Coupling, is a favourite for the coveted role.

Other names being tossed about include former EastEnders star Michelle Ryan and Carey Mulligan who played Sally Sparrow in a previous Doctor Who episode.

The BBC is likely to keep its choice of his helper as secret as the name of the new Time Lord.

Millions of people worldwide watch Doctor Who every week to get their dose of science fiction.

Personnely, I'm leaning towards Carey Mulligan. First off, She knows he's a time traveler...2nd, kinda cute , and, 3rd, tall guy / short girl...good match-up! Also, she's closer in age to Matt Smith, being 24 yrs old.

Any thoughts, Was or Yunners? ( Gee...our own private little thread! 'Who'd' of thought... )

Quote:

Whoever wrote that has never heard Gina speak (or never heard a Kiwi speak, possibly both). She isn't really a Kiwi, she grew up in NZ but left at 11 (so she missed out on lunch, ha!)

I watched Coupling for years and never knew she was born here until yesterday.
But she's still one of my favourite actresses, hilarious in Coupling. And everyone should check out Leverage which is a brilliant show. Gina plays the worst actress in the world, except when she's pulling a heist, then she's the best.

"I once saw a horse beat a clown to death".
Don't get it? That's why you have to watch the show.
(I hope Gina doesn't get the Doctor Who part, she's too good... all these new Doctors have been complete fags)

Hmmm.

Michelle Ryan - I thought she was nice to look at on Bionic Woman but I wasn't very impressed with her acting all that much.

Gina Bellman - I think she's a hoot in Leverage. Very pretty and she has a great voice and can actually act. Don't think the age difference would be an issue (the Doctor is over 1,000 years old, after all). My daughter would approve, she liked her in Coupling.

Carey Mulligan - I really enjoyed "Blink". I would want her to continue to play Sally and not some new character. I think this is the one I would want to see the most.

But hey, why not 2 companions? Worked for earlier Doctors.

- - - - -
Word association time -

Sally Sparrow... Captain Jack Sparrow... Captain Jack Harkness. Guess we need Sally Harkness. Yeah, that's it, Carey Mulligan could play Sally Sparrow, who turns out to really be Sally Sparrow Harkness, Jack's estranged wife who he abandoned in the 24th and a 1/2 century!

I need drugs.

Quote:

Bowchicka Bowwow .

But I have to agree Bring back the character of Sally Sparrow as the new companion