Ending months of speculation, a special January 3 edition of Doctor Who Confidential officially announced that Matt Smith will be cast as the new Doctor Who in 2010. His face is already on the official BBC site and UK fans can watch a video of him.

Smith, a relative unknown with less than 10 film credits on IMDB, has edged out odds-on favorite Paterson Joseph and David Morrissey (who was temptingly billed as "The Next Doctor" on the latest Christmas special). Joseph would have been the first minority actor to play the Doctor. Smith has his own claim to uniqueness, being the youngest actor cast; he will be 27 when he first steps out of the TARDIS, three years younger than Peter Davison was when he took the role.

Fan reaction is highly mixed. Many are upset that their preferred actors did not win the coveted role, while many others focus negatively on Smith's age.  Admittedly, it is disconcerting that the newest Doctor isn't just younger than the role, but almost half the age of the role.  However, many of the complaints being made about Smith are the same that fans leveled at Peter Davison, who was also an extremely young actor with no major credits taking over from the most popular Doctor of his day.  (Many of these complaints were also heard when Tennant took over as well.) Once fandom got over the shock, Davison and Tennant were extremely popular.  There is every reason to believe that Smith will follow in their footsteps.

Filming for the next Doctor Who special begins on January 19, with Tennant still in the title role - he is still the reigning Doctor for the specials through 2009.  As he has recovered from back surgery enough to return last night to his role in Hamlet at the RSC, filming will presumably begin without delay.  

After four more specials, Tennant will regenerate into Smith and the show will return as a regular series with Steven Moffat as the new producer.  Moffat is certainly not worried about Smith's age.  The official press release quotes him saying "The Doctor is a very special part, and it takes a very special actor to play him. 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. 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. 2010 is a long time away but rest assured the 11th Doctor is coming – and the universe has never been so safe."

Source:  BBC Press Office