After months of fierce debate and rumour - putting the casting of Star Wars: Episode II to shame - the Daily Mirror reports today that Sean Bean is to play the latest incarnation of Doctor Who in a £250m film version of the classic time-travel TV series.

The 41-year-old actor becomes the 10th actor to play the title role in a deal said to be worth around £3m. British actress Tara Fitzgerald, last seen in 1999's Rancid Aluminium, will play the Time Lord's trusty assistant. Shooting is to begin at Pinewood Studios in the spring.

A source close to the project said: "The powers that be are delighted to have got Bean. They wanted a British actor and a big name and he's both. To have got Tara as well is the icing on the cake."

Best known for his role as Andy McNab in 1999's Bravo Two Zero, Bean was last seen in the British gangster film Essex Boys, released last July. He is currently filming the big screen adaptation of Lord of the Rings alongside Ian McKellen and Liv Tyler.

The Doctor Who TV series ran from 1963 to 1989 with film versions in 1965 and 1966. The last big screen outing for the doctor, starring Paul McGann, flopped in 1996. No doubt the producers hope that the current trend for sci-fi films, such as last year's X-Men and the forthcoming Steven Spielberg project A.I., will help the film's success.

Since the project was announced last year, everyone from Patrick Stewart to Denzel Washington has been rumoured to be stepping into the Doctor's scruffy brogues. One ex-doctor however is not so sure about the big screen version. Tom Baker, who played the doctor's fourth incarnation said: "I wish the BBC all the best - but will be praying to St Jude, the patron saint of lost causes."