Speculation over: it's out! You've gotta hand it to them - Matt Smith was absolutely not a name connected with the role and in the age of mass communication keeping something like this a complete secret is one hell of an achievement. But who in the universe, you might ask, is Matt Smith?

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Well, as the title of this very post indicates, I'd suggest that most of TV Scoop's readers will recognise him as the lovable rogue Jim Taylor in the BBC's adaptations of Philip Pullman's Sally Lockheart Mysteries - Ruby In The Smoke and The Shadow In The North. Others will know him from the rather more grown up drama Party Animals, and he also starred in The History Boys on stage (I saw him, in fact!).

When he appeared on screen, I recognised him instantly - but while I couldn't place him, I remembered liking him very much, and that good feeling does come from the Sally Lockheart stories, in which he shone alongside Billie Piper and JJ Feild. So while he is undeniably young (man, they went on about that, didn't they?!), and while we can never really know what he's going to be like until we first see him in the role, I'm giving this casting a thumbs up. Not especially brave, you might say, but full of potential - and hey, check out that hair. It's got Doctor written all over it.