Little known British actor Matt Smith, 26, will take over the lead role of the Doctor when the series returns for a 5th season on the BBC in spring of 2010. After numerous rumors that the role would go to an older, more seasoned actor (or potential actress) the announcement of Smith has surprised fans. At 26, he is three years younger than Peter Davison -the 5th Doctor - when he took over the role in 1981. And while Davison had a fan following with his work in All Creatures Great and Small, Smith's work at the BBC began in 2006, with the adaptation of Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke, which starred former Doctor Who companion Billie Piper. He has also acted opposite Piper in the follow-up, The Shadow in the North, and in ITV2's Secret Diary of a Call Girl. In 2007, he had a leading role in BBC Two's political drama Party Animals, in which he played a parliamentary researcher.
For some fans, their casting of someone so young seems to confirm that the BBC is more concerned with the tween audience -especially girls - than anything else. Of course, like here in Hollywood, the younger you are, the better demographics you get, the better profit you make. In theory anyways.
Still, one hopes that despite his age, the series can be pulled from the doldrums by new showrunner Steven Moffat, who'll have a year to make the fifth series the best since the show was brought back in 2005. He is, perhaps, a better writer than Russell T Davies, in the effect that his scripts are filled with more depth and with better dialogue. Davies was great for bringing huge set pieces to the show, but if you look too close at his scripts, you find its way too fanish and lacks a lot of substance.
There is to be three more specials of Doctor Who featuring outgoing David Tennant, with the next one to be aired around Easter. A third will probably air in late summer, while the fourth, and last of the 10th Doctor, will air Christmas Day of this year.
For some fans, their casting of someone so young seems to confirm that the BBC is more concerned with the tween audience -especially girls - than anything else. Of course, like here in Hollywood, the younger you are, the better demographics you get, the better profit you make. In theory anyways.
Still, one hopes that despite his age, the series can be pulled from the doldrums by new showrunner Steven Moffat, who'll have a year to make the fifth series the best since the show was brought back in 2005. He is, perhaps, a better writer than Russell T Davies, in the effect that his scripts are filled with more depth and with better dialogue. Davies was great for bringing huge set pieces to the show, but if you look too close at his scripts, you find its way too fanish and lacks a lot of substance.
There is to be three more specials of Doctor Who featuring outgoing David Tennant, with the next one to be aired around Easter. A third will probably air in late summer, while the fourth, and last of the 10th Doctor, will air Christmas Day of this year.
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