Matt Smith To Leave Doctor Who

Following intense online speculation last night, the BBC officially confirmed that Matt Smith will relinquish the role of the Eleventh Doctor after four years in this year's Christmas special.

The Northampton-born actor said that Doctor Who had been "the most brilliant experience.. and that is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show. I'm incredibly grateful to all the cast and crew who work tirelessly every day to realise all the elements and deliver Doctor Who to the audience.. I'm proud of what we have achieved over the last four years."

Smith praised Steven Moffat's "mind-bending and brilliant scripts" as "the greatest and most rewarding challenges" of his career. "It's been a privilege and a treat to work with Steven" who "will continue to shape" the programme.

Of the committed Whovians, Smith said: "the fans.. are unlike any other, they dress up, know more about the history of the show and speculate" constantly. Their "dedication is truly remarkable. Thank you so very much for supporting my incarnation.. It's been an honour to play the part, to follow the legacy of brilliant actors, and helm the TARDIS with the ginger, the nose and the impossible one. But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go and Trenzalore calls."

Matthew Robert Smith - relatively unknown - was unveiled as the Doctor in a special edition of Doctor Who Confidential in January 2009, and was just 26 years old when cast, making him the youngest ever actor to take the part.

Smith debuted as the new Doctor on New Year's Day 2010, in The End of Time, then embarked on three full seasons as the iconic Time Lord.

The forthcoming 50th anniversary special completed production last month, so Moffat's next script- the Christmas adventure - will be Smith's final story which begins filming in the summer.

A Tribute To Raymond Cusick (1928-2013)

News broke today that former BBC designer Ray Cusick has died after a short illness, aged 84. His daughter, Claire Heawood said that Cusick passed away on Thursday at his home near Horsham in West Sussex.

Raymond Patrick Cusick was born in London, and planned to be a civil engineer, but then joined the army. After a stint stationed in Palestine, Cusick planned to take up teaching instead. Having taught art, he then took an interest in design and joined Granada Television. This led to a move to the BBC as a staff designer, which included being assigned to the fledgling Doctor Who. Here, he was to come up with the design of the Daleks, which are one of the key elements that made the fifty-year old programme the success it has become. 

Unfortunately, Cusick had always played second fiddle to Dalek creator, Terry Nation - as a salaried Corporation employee, he was not paid royalties, whilst the writer became a millionaire. Cusick (pictured in 1964) only ever wanted to be credited as the designer.

Besides his contribution to The Daleks, Cusick was production designer on The Edge of Destruction, The Keys of Marinus, The Sensorites, Planet of Giants, The Rescue, The Romans, The Chase, Mission to the Unknown, and The Daleks' Master Plan.

The designer's final work for the BBC was on their Miss Marple series (1987), and in June 2008, Cusick appeared in the Doctor Who Confidential episode, Friends and Foe.

Doctor Who in The Observer

The Guardian website has posted an article from today's News Review section of The Observer, that asks "Is time up for Doctor Who?" Helen Lewis-Hasteley opens the debate (here) with this excellent point: with Who "..the BBC have more than a TV show, they have a national institution." So why split season six and move it around the schedules? And the next series looks set to be spread over 2012/13 "like some failed American import." She also praises the coup in commissioning Neil Gaiman's script, then confronting him with the typical budget restrictions that meant employing a "recycled Ood"!

Fortunately, unlike the BBC's treatment of Doctor Who in the late 1980's, the Corporation now embraces the programme (albeit as one of their most lucrative exports), and as Steven Moffat is keen to reiterate, his show is safe. But did the perceived rift between our dear Showrunner, and BBC1 controller Danny Cohen, lead to the former's tweet that (his other vehicle) Sherlock didn't in fact affect "the scheduling of Dr Who." We shall see. The issue of the channel's inconsistent time-slot still remains though, which I believe has resulted in a ratings decrease (NOT slump, Daily Mail sheep) this year. And after the recent axing of sister show, Confidential, the fall-out from the BBC's cuts will be very telling too.

Andrew Harrison then argues that this flagship series has "regenerated.. family viewing" and deserves a full and proper season for it's 50th anniversary year. His positive analysis of this year's ratings, and the show's success on iPlayer, are "figures that TV executives dream of."

The writers also discuss the complaint that under Moffat, the programme is "too complicated for kids"; whether today's 45-minute episodes only have room for "bad characterisation"; and if these stories stand-up to repeated viewing like Harrison's favourite, City of Death. He prefers to think of Who as "a kids' show - one that adults love because they can share it with their own children, and with the part of themselves that is still a child." Harrison defends the healthy scares (like Cyber-conversion). They are "an essential part of a rounded upbringing." Helen however, regards the recent series more as "a grown-up drama" and "love[s] the fact that Doctor Who fans feel so possessive about the show." Harrison replies that "no sane person can sincerely love every aspect of " our show since it is now "so ridiculously diverse" akin to super-group Queen!