Peter Capaldi announced as the Twelfth Doctor

Doctor Who fans.... the wait is over. On a special live show, the BBC has announced that Peter Capaldi will succeed Matt Smith to become the Twelfth Doctor in the long-running British sci-fi series. He will take over as the time lord for the new series in 2014, although you'd have to expect a quick post-regeneration cameo at the conclusion of this year's Christmas Special.

Capaldi is best known for his BAFTA Award-winning role as angry, sweary spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker in the BBC's The Thick of It and the feature film In the Loop. Other recent appearances include the TV shows Skins and The Hour, as well as the films World War Z and the upcoming The Fifth Estate and Maleficent. Capaldi has previously guest starred in an episode of Doctor Who, as well as the spin-off Torchwood, and is also an Academy Award-winning writer and director, with his 1993 short Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life receiving the Oscar for Best Live Action Short.

Speculation has been rife over the weekend that the BBC would announce Capaldi as the new Doctor, with the bookies suspending betting yesterday after making him the firm favourite. His casting brings an end to months of speculation, which has seen a host of names mentioned as potential candidates including Rory Kinnear (Skyfall), Ben Daniels (Cutting It), Daniel Rigby (Eric and Ernie) and Andrew Scott (Sherlock).