Update: Guess which James Bond franchise actor may be the next Doctor Who?

UPDATE: As many of you have pointed out, the Rory Kinnear rumor appears to have been debunked, but anything is possible until we hear a clear and definite no from the BBC. So far their statement is “Speculation around the identity of who will be next to step in to the TARDIS is rife. The search has only just begun and all will be revealed over the coming months.” We will update as more is revealed.

Before you get your hopes up, it is not Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, or Ben Whishaw. In fact, it is not any of the big names that have been bandied about since news broke that 11th Doctor Matt Smith would be leaving after this November’s 50th Anniversary special. The rumors of the next Doctor being Black or even female may be wrong as well. The next DOCTOR WHO lead is looking likely to be a….white British guy.

While that is underselling Rory Kinnear‘s acting ability a whole hell of a lot, if the rumors turn out to be true, this could be an underwhelming choice for the 12th Doctor on the long running BBC science fiction series. As far as big screen credits go, Rory Kinnear has been limited to playing Bill Tanner, the MI-6 Chief of Staff in all of the Daniel Craig outings as Bond. The SKYFALL actor is more well known as a stage performer, having played tons of roles with the Royal Shakespearea Company and National Theatre.

As an actor, he is a stark contrast with Matt Smith’s manic and fun take on the Doctor and throws confusion into John Hurt‘s recent appearance on the series. As a fan of the recent series of DOCTOR WHO, I am not sure what to make of this news, but I was also very pleasantly surprised with Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant. if Rory Kinnear ends up being the next star of DOCTOR WHO, I will be interested to see where things go.

Matt Smith’s final episode of DOCTOR WHO airs this November.