In Focus

05 December 2008 04:40 BST

Who's next for the Doctor

As false dawns go, it was one of epic proportions with last week's revelation that a regeneration was on the cards for Doctor Who proving to be little more than smoke and mirrors from Russell T Davies.

David Tennant remained in the role, with at least one more Christmas special on the cards for the Scot.

But with Davies finishing his run and Stephen Moffat taking over, Catherine Tate despatched back to Chiswick chav and Billie Piper safe in a parallel universe with a mortal Doctor, what does the future hold for the Time Lord?

And, more importantly, who is set to take the reins of the show that reinvented Saturday night television?

inthenews.co.uk's Lewis Bazley looks at who should step into the Time Lord's shoes once David Tennant eventually steps down.

Eddie Izzard

The stand-up great and current star of The Riches certainly has the comic chops and the quirkiness to follow Tennant but could he be that little bit too weird for the role? There's a nagging fear that rather than swiftly dealing with a rogue band of Slitheen swarming on Cardiff city centre, Izzard would be more likely to sit down with the slime for a chat about jam.

Robert Carlyle

If scaring baddies and viewers alike is the order of the day then Carlyle could be ideal, though whether his talent for accents is as honed as Tennant's is questionable. Then again, Christopher Eccleston, a similarly intense actor, had the Doctor hailing from the north so what harm would there be in a Celtic Time Lord?

David Mitchell

The Peep Show star might seem a left-field choice, but having publicly professed his desire to play the Doctor, as well as having shifted a few pounds of late, he's definitely armed with the esoteric knowledge and maturity beyond his years that could be perfect for the part. There's no doubting his comic abilities and if there's anyone more suited to sitting the Cybermen down for a proper chat about dinner table etiquette, I can't see him.

David Walliams

Another comic David, but of a different ilk to Mitchell, Walliams would retain the playful tone masterfully used by Tennant and he's got the curious androgyny necessary to banter with female assistants and masculine foes. Yet, while his thespian talents were shown to extend far beyond the catchphrase confines of Little Britain in Stephen Poliakoff's recent, it's questionable whether Walliams could sustain an entire series of the emotional depths required by the Time Lord's adventures without audiences expecting a burst of 'I'm a lady' around the corner.

Stephen Fry

Think about it - funny, wise, ageless and crucially, able to maintain the show's theatrical vein without it turning into a Dick Emery sketch. Not only is Fry universally recognised as the cleverest man in the world - making that 900 years of knowledge a little more believable - he's also likeable enough to inspire previously insipid humans to go on a galaxy-wide jaunt. And the man can carry off a scarf with aplomb.