JON PERTWEE, the actor who is the idol of 11 million children and adults every Saturday in his role as Doctor Who, will leave the series in the early summer.
He is dropping out after almost five years to return to the stage. He will be appearing in a new comedy, The Bedwinner, which should be staged in London this autumn.
The BBC will be announcing the name of the actor to replace him next week.
A spokesman said: "There is no question of the Doctor Who series going off the air. There will be a new actor who we hope will be as popular as Jon was when he took over the role."
The third
Mr Pertwee, who is in his early 50's, took over the role of the doctor from Patrick Trough-ton. He was the third Dr Who. The first was William Hartwell Before he went to the BBC, Mr Pertwee appeared in a number of long-running stage shows, including Girl In My Soup, and A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum.
Caption: JON PERTWEE In his Dr Who role — he quits the show after five years.
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