Matt Smith has announced that he will be leaving DOCTOR WHO at the end of the year and it has been announced that a new Doctor has already been cast (supposedly since January) but the new actor won’t be announced until later this year. I am wondering if the person picked for the gig is the person who was considered the runner-up to Matt Smith for the role after David Tennant’s exit. Who is this person you ask? Keep clicking and I’ll tell ya.

If you don’t recognize the fella in the photo his name is Paterson Joseph. He has starred in a ton of stuff on British TV over the years including the “Bad Wolf” and “The Parting of the Ways” episodes of DOCTOR WHO during Christopher Eccleston’s season as The Doctor.

Joseph was rumored to be the front-runner for The Doctor role in 2008 after David Tennant announced his own departure. Current showrunner Stephen Moffat was supposedly very high on Joseph at the time until Matt Smith came in for his audition and wowed everyone involved. So is it possible that Joseph could be getting his shot at piloting The TARDIS now that the role of The Doctor is open? If so I would have no problems with it. While it would be an interesting change to have a black actor in the role, that is not really why I would like to see Joseph in the role. I think the guy is a really good actor who has a talent for bringing a tinge of malice to his acting style (much like Eccleston did) which would be a nice change from the hyper kinetic performances of Tennant and Smith.
Take a gander at Joseph’s turn as the Marquis de Carabas in Neil Gaiman’s NEVERWHERE mini-series to see what I would hope his Doctor would be like: