What's going on with Kris Marshall and Doctor Who?

When exactly?

Well, it's not quite clear. At first we thought that Capaldi's 12th Doctor was set for a regeneration in the 2017 Christmas special, the last episode to be overseen by outgoing showrunner Steven Moffat. However, recent clues have hinted that perhaps Capaldi is going to regenerate earlier, at some point during series 10 – although we still suspect that could be a red herring.

Right, so he's going to regenerate into Kris Marshall's 13th Doctor?

We simply don't know. There have been a huge number of names thrown around since it was announced that Peter Capaldi is leaving. The bookmakers have been favouring Phoebe Waller-Bridge to become the first female Doctor, but Kris Marshall's name has always been in the running.

So why is everyone talking about Kris Marshall now?

Because the Mirror recently ran a story which confidently quoted an insider on Doctor Who confirming that Kris Marshall had been chosen as the 13th Doctor, and indeed had already filmed his first scene. The internet being the internet, the story was followed up by everyone over the Easter weekend and it appears to have gained some traction.

So who is Kris Marshall?

He's an actor. He's 44 years old and was born in Somerset.

Yeah, thanks for that. What's he been in?

Kris is best known to many for his long-running role of Nick Harper in BBC family sitcom My Family. Incidentally, his screen mum in the show was played by Doctor Who alumnus Zoe Wanamaker (Lady Cassandra in The End of the World and New Earth).

He was also in smash hit Britflick Love Actually playing the hapless Colin. The film was written and directed by Richard Curtis who, incidentally, penned much-loved 2010 Matt Smith Doctor Who episode Vincent and the Doctor.

Kris is also known to many in the UK for his series of British Telecom television commercials...

And most recently for BBC1 detective drama Death in Paradise where Kris played the lead, DI Humphrey Goodman, a British policeman stationed on a Caribbean island.

He left the show in February 2017.

Did he leave the show so he could become the Doctor?

When Kris's character left Death in Paradise just as Peter Capaldi announced he would be departing Doctor Who, a lot of people made that connection. But Kris's decision not to return was actually made long before the show aired. He has said in interviews that now that his first child had reached school age he didn't want to keep taking them backwards and forwards to the Caribbean.

But it does mean that he is available to be the Doctor now?

Well, yes. Not being tied to a regular show does suggest that he may have time for a new UK-based project.

Would he make a good Doctor?

It's tricky to say. He certainly has a good line in bumbling and eccentric Britishness in his acting repertoire which would play towards a certain type of previous Doctor.

So when do we find out?

That's the million dollar question. The BBC are staying tight lipped on all of this, but considering the new series is up and running, we may not have too long to wait...