Matt Smith will be the 11th Doctor Who and the youngest actor ever to play the cult television time traveller, the BBC said.
Revealing a closely-guarded secret, the network said that the 26-year-old Mr Smith would take over from the popular David Tennant as the star of the science fiction show that first appeared on British television screens in 1963.
Mr Tennant announced last October he planned to step down but will stay in the role for four specials this year before Mr Smith takes over in a new series to be broadcast in 2010.
"I'm flabbergasted. I haven't slept really because it's an iconic part of our culture. It has the iconic status that Robin Hood or Sherlock Holmes (have) and I'm taking that on as my responsibility. It's nerve-racking, exciting," Smith said on a television show announcing the identity of the new doctor.
Other actors who have played the role over the years include the original doctor, William Hartnell, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker and Peter Davison.
Aniston, Pitt reunite atop US box office
Marley & Me, a canine comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, led the North American box office for a second weekend yesterday, becoming the first Christmas holiday picture to hit $100 million.
Twentieth Century Fox's adaptation of the best-selling John Grogan memoir about a lovable Labrador retriever earned $24.1 million during the three days beginning on Friday, taking its 11-day haul to $106.5 million. It marks Ms Aniston's second consecutive $100 million-plus movie, following 2006's The Break-Up, which finished with $118.7 million.
The Adam Sandler family comedy Bedtime Stories was No. 2 with $20.3 million, and a total of $85.4 million. Ms Aniston's former husband Brad Pitt followed with the aging-backward fable The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which earned $18.4 million, and a total of $79.0 million. As with Marley & Me, they were released on Christmas Day.
Actor charged with drunken driving
Actor and playwright Sam Shepard was arrested early on Saturday in central Illinois and charged with speeding and drunken driving, police said.
Mr Shepard, 65, told police in Normal, Illinois, he was passing through town and stopped at a tavern before heading to his hotel.
His blood alcohol was twice the legal limit and he was going 26 kph over the 48 kph speed limit while passing through town, the Bloomington, Illinois, Pantagraph reported.
He told police he was travelling to his home in Kentucky, according to the newspaper.
His long-time partner is actress Jessica Lange, with whom he has two children.
Traffic deaths down in China
Chinese traffic deaths declined 10 per cent in 2008 to 73,484 helped by a nationwide safety campaign during the Olympic Games, the Ministry of Public Security said yesterday.
The explosive growth of China's auto market, the world's second largest, lax enforcement of rules and poor quality roads have resulted in one of the world's worst traffic safety records.
A greater focus on safety, however, has reduced the number of traffic deaths from over 100,000 as recently as 2003.
The more than a quarter million traffic accidents in 2008 resulted in a total economic loss of one billion yuan (€105 million), the ministry said on its website (www.mps.gov.cn).
The Olympic safety campaign lasted from April through the end of September, while other safety programmes lasted until the end of the year, said the ministry.
Autopsy for John Travolta's son
An autopsy is planned in the Bahamas for actor John Travolta's 16-year-old son, who died suddenly during a vacation at his family's resort home, authorities said.
Police Superintendent Basil Rahming said the autopsy, which could determine the cause of death of Jett Travolta, was likely to be performed today.
Mr Rahming did not elaborate on the time or place of the procedure. He said Mr Travolta's eldest child, who had a history of seizures, had been found unconscious in a bathroom at his family's home at the Old Bahama Bay resort on Grand Bahama Island on Friday morning.
The body was discovered by a caretaker, Mr Rahming said. Jett Travolta had last been seen alive on Thursday and was pronounced dead after being taken by ambulance to Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport.