Article from: http://www.doctorwhonews.com/

Overnight figures show an average of 6.1 million viewers tuned into BBC One on Saturday evening to see Matt Smith revealed as the Eleventh Doctor.

The special edition of Doctor Who Confidential had a share of 29.6% of the total audience and outrated the FA Cup on ITV1 which had around 5 million watching at the time.

Smith will succeed David Tennant in the role for the fifth series, which begins filming this summer and will air in 2010.

Smith has appeared in various television productions, including alongside Billie Piper in the BBC's adaptations of the Philip Pullman novels The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North. He co-starred in the drama series Party Animals, and on stage was in Alan Bennett's acclaimed play The History Boys.

Smith was born and bred in Northampton, England, and later attended the University of East Anglia in Norwich. He is the youngest actor ever to have been cast as the Doctor in the TV series.

BBC News quotes Smith as saying: "I've got this wonderful journey in front of me where I've got this six months to build this Time Lord - and that's such an exciting prospect." Executive producer Piers Wenger has said that: "It was abundantly clear that he had that 'Doctor-ness' about him. You are either the Doctor or you are not." The BBC News site has also published a profile of Smith, while the official website has a video interview with the actor available to UK users. The first BBC News story has been updated with a clip from an interview with Smith, which is available to users worldwide.

The BBC Press Office, meanwhile, has a full release with quotes from new chief writer Steven Moffat, who was one of those behind Smith's casting. "The Doctor is a very special part, and it takes a very special actor to play him. You need to be old and young at the same time, a boffin and an action hero, a cheeky schoolboy and the wise old man of the universe. As soon as Matt walked through the door, and blew us away with a bold and brand new take on the Time Lord, we knew we had our man."

Jonny: My only personal concerns are the fact he's scarily young to be the Doctor. Granted only 3 years younger then Davison was but this guy is my age! Which is freaky. Additionally I wanted them to edge more away from the overly good looking side of it, with the Doctor kissing people all the time. It seems they want to push it as far as they can go though. Hopefully it will work.