The Next Doctor Who Will Be Unveiled Sunday

Mark your calendars

Whovians, clear your calendars -- the next star of the British science-fiction series "Doctor Who" will be unveiled Sunday during a live half-hour television special on the BBC.

The 12th Doctor of the long-running show, which has aired 33 seasons and nearly 800 episodes since it premiered in 1963, will be revealed in front of a studio audience set against a backdrop of a swirling vortex, Daleks, and the TARDIS, the BBC has announced.

Peter Capaldi, who starred as a foul-mouthed spin doctor in the British political comedy series "The Thick of It," has been the odds-on favorite to step into the good Doctor's blue phone booth-shaped time machine after Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor, announced in June that he would be leaving the show after four years.