In a story that’s been developing since the formal announcement in 2007 of Doctor Who’s fifth series, followed by the news that David Tennant will be relinquishing the role after 2009, we now know who the new “Who” will be: newcomer Matt Smith has been tapped to step in as the Time Lord’s 11th incarnation.

With this announcement, viewers of 2008 Christmas special “The Next Doctor” who were outside of the BBC’s broadcast authority last Christmas (and were unable to procure it through other means) will be completely robbed of the only dramatic tension the new episode has to offer — perhaps for the better.

So is it “actual” ironic or “Alanis Morrisette” ironic that, in his Benjamin Button style, it seems that the more the Doctor ages the younger the actor is who plays him? My earliest memory of Doctor Who was being regaled by the many serial adventures of Tom Baker as I wiggled the last of my baby teeth. At 26, for the first time ever, the Doctor is younger than I am. At this rate, I eagerly await the Doctor’s thirteenth (and perhaps final) incarnation where he can’t wait to get his license, discovers girls, and constantly complains that parents “just don’t understand”.

David Tennant has since come close to replacing Baker as my favorite of all time; news of his his departure still stings. It would be true of anyone to follow the Tenth Doctor, but I hope Mr. Smith realizes he has very big cross-trainers to fill. So far, the nicest thing anyone close to the project has been able to say about him is that “he has a quality of the old man trapped in the young man’s body”. Ouch! Certainly apt for the sort of role he’s being asked to play, but who will pay the therapy bills when he suddenly leaves in three years to pursue his dream of being a WWII-era longshoreman? (Hey, he’s got a time machine now; it could happen!)

At least, for once, the Doctor can plausibly call himself “Mr. Smith”.

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