In a desperate attempt to get viewers to Richard Hammond's new game show in the face of ITV's FA Cup coverage, the BBC decided to announce who will be occupying the TARDIS when David Tennant checks out at the end of this year.
It turns out literally everyone's best guess was wrong. And the next Doctor is.....Matt Smith.
To get an idea of his work, check out Widge's post about it on the main site..
I actually find a few interesting points to all this:
Moffat and Crew: 1 Internet: 0
Pundits, fans, booking agencies- guessed wrong. I do admit-since I wasn't involved in this round of the speculation- it pleased me greatly to see so many people be so absolutely wrong.
And they really don't have to announce who the companion is until they actually start filming-or, as was case with Freema- well after.
And since 11 has now been announced, the ball (and the attention, and the pressure) is squarely back in the court of RTD and what's left of the old company. And with the Productions of two more specials with Tennant, a full third series of Sarah Jane, and (probably) some sort of forth series of Torchwood going on at / or around the same time means Moffat and co will have the rest of the active franchise to hide behind, while having to reveal nothing else. Well played.
Finally, after all that business with the reveal- Hammond's game show, Total Wipeout, only managed to draw 6.5 Million viewers- building just a half million viewers on from the Who Special's lead in. So that ratings stunt just barely worked.