The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

Posted: 01 Jun 2013 04:39 PM PDT

LONDON - The BBC is on the hunt for a new Time Lord after British actor Matt Smith announced on Saturday that he is quitting as the star of cult sci-fi drama Doctor Who.

Smith, who has played the eccentric, time-travelling Doctor since 2010, said he would bow out in a special Christmas episode of the 50-year-old show and a new star would take over at the helm of his spaceship, the Tardis. The 30-year-old, who came to the role as a relatively unknown actor, said it had been "an honour" to play the Doctor. "Doctor Who has been the most brilliant experience for me as an actor and a bloke, and that largely is down to the cast, crew and fans of the show," he said.

"The fans of Doctor Who around the world are unlike any other - they dress up, shout louder, know more about the history of the show," he added.

Doctor Who is the world's longest-running science fiction series, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, and has been sold by the BBC to more than 200 territories around the world.

Smith is the 11th and youngest actor to star in the show, which has seen the Doctor battle enemies from the Daleks to the Cybermen since 1963.

Like his predecessors, he was joined by a series of companions as he travelled to faraway worlds in the Tardis.

"The Doctor can be clown and hero, often at the same time, and Matt rose to both challenges magnificently," said Steven Moffat, the show's lead writer and executive producer.

"The way he'd turn a line, or spin on his heels, or make something funny, or out of nowhere make me cry - I just never knew what was coming next."

Smith recently made his directorial debut and has spoken of his ambitions for a film-making career.

As with previous Time Lords, news of his departure sparked feverish speculation amongst fans about who will come next - with some predicting that a woman could finally land the role. - AFP

US television icon Jean Stapleton dead at 90

Posted: 01 Jun 2013 04:37 PM PDT

NEW YORK - Jean Stapleton, whose shrill-voiced housewife in the trailblazing "All in the Family" sitcom was one of US television's defining and most beloved characters, has died at the age of 90, media reports said on Saturday.

Stapleton came into her own as the retiring homebody Edith Bunker, who was often at odds with her curmudgeonly and bigoted husband Archie on the TV popular program.

Unbeknownst to many Americans, however, Stapleton was an accomplished stage actress before becoming a pop culture icon during her starring role in the 1970s Norman Lear television series.

The popular show was an adaptation of the British series "Til Death US Do Part," about a working-class couple and a husband with racist views.

Stapleton played the role as slightly oddball but traditional homemaker, who over time begins to reflect on feminism and other burning social issues, fueling hilarious run-ins with her stuck-in-the-mud husband, played by actor Carroll O'Connor.

The series was such a cultural touchstone in the United States that the armchair in which O'Connor was filmed each week is now on exhibit in the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. - AFP

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Sabtu, 1 Jun 2013