David Tennant's replacement to be revealed on big screens across UK
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The identity of David Tennant's replacement as Doctor Who will be revealed in a BBC1 show to be broadcast tomorrow - and simulcast live on the BBC's big outdoor screens in cities around the country.
It is understood that those hoping for the first female doctor will be disappointed. Doctor Who's new executive producers, Coupling creator Steven Moffat and BBC Wales head of drama Piers Wenger are said to have stuck with tradition and cast a man in the role.
However, Moffat and Wenger are thought to have steered away from the more obvious names that have been linked to the role.
Tennant's replacement will be unveiled in an edition of Doctor Who Confidential to be broadcast on BBC1 at 5.35pm on Saturday, 3 January, featuring an interview with the actor who is to be the 11th doctor in the long-running BBC1 sci fi drama, successfully revived by the corporation in 2005.
The show will also be broadcast live on BBC outdoor screens around the country in city centre locations including Hull, Liverpool, Rotherham, Swindon, Swansea, Norwich and Walthamstow.
Tomorrow's announcement will put to an end months of speculation over who will take over from Tennant, who confirmed live on air during ITV1's National Television Awards at the end of October that he will step down from the starring role in Doctor Who after a series of specials to be broadcast next year.
In recent weeks prominent actors including James Nesbitt, David Walliams and David Morrissey, who starred alongside Tennant in the Christmas Day Doctor Who special, have been linked with the role by bookmakers.
Less obvious names mentioned as potential replacements for Tennant have included Paterson Joseph, perhaps best known as Johnson in Peep Show, and more recently seen in BBC1's Survivors; Dirty Pretty Things actor Chiwetel Ejiofor; Ben Wishaw, whose credits include Criminal Justice; and Russell Tovey, who was in last year's Doctor Who Christmas special and also appeared in recent BBC1 Dickens adaptation Little Dorrit.
"We believe the actor is going to bring something very special to the role and will make it absolutely their own. It has been a nail-biting Christmas trying to keep this under wraps," Wenger said.
The BBC added that choosing the next Doctor Who now was "job number one" so that scripts could be finalised and shooting could begin in the summer on series five of the show for broadcast in 2010, even though Tennant will not bow out until the Christmas 2009 special.
The identity of David Tennant's replacement as Doctor Who will be revealed in a BBC1 show to be broadcast tomorrow - and simulcast live on the BBC's big outdoor screens in cities around the country.
It is understood that those hoping for the first female doctor will be disappointed. Doctor Who's new executive producers, Coupling creator Steven Moffat and BBC Wales head of drama Piers Wenger are said to have stuck with tradition and cast a man in the role.
However, Moffat and Wenger are thought to have steered away from the more obvious names that have been linked to the role.
Tennant's replacement will be unveiled in an edition of Doctor Who Confidential to be broadcast on BBC1 at 5.35pm on Saturday, 3 January, featuring an interview with the actor who is to be the 11th doctor in the long-running BBC1 sci fi drama, successfully revived by the corporation in 2005.
The show will also be broadcast live on BBC outdoor screens around the country in city centre locations including Hull, Liverpool, Rotherham, Swindon, Swansea, Norwich and Walthamstow.
Tomorrow's announcement will put to an end months of speculation over who will take over from Tennant, who confirmed live on air during ITV1's National Television Awards at the end of October that he will step down from the starring role in Doctor Who after a series of specials to be broadcast next year.
In recent weeks prominent actors including James Nesbitt, David Walliams and David Morrissey, who starred alongside Tennant in the Christmas Day Doctor Who special, have been linked with the role by bookmakers.
Less obvious names mentioned as potential replacements for Tennant have included Paterson Joseph, perhaps best known as Johnson in Peep Show, and more recently seen in BBC1's Survivors; Dirty Pretty Things actor Chiwetel Ejiofor; Ben Wishaw, whose credits include Criminal Justice; and Russell Tovey, who was in last year's Doctor Who Christmas special and also appeared in recent BBC1 Dickens adaptation Little Dorrit.
"We believe the actor is going to bring something very special to the role and will make it absolutely their own. It has been a nail-biting Christmas trying to keep this under wraps," Wenger said.
The BBC added that choosing the next Doctor Who now was "job number one" so that scripts could be finalised and shooting could begin in the summer on series five of the show for broadcast in 2010, even though Tennant will not bow out until the Christmas 2009 special.