I've been spending (what's felt like) years scoffing at rumors about Russel E. Davies and David Tennant's impending departure from the venerable Doctor Who franchise and that speculation has finally turned out to be true, as Tennant has announced that he will be stepping down as the tenth Doctor. He'll be leaving after the current season, which will be made up of four specials instead of the usual 13 episodes, the same time Davies will be quitting the franchise.

Russell Tovey and Patterson Joseph

On the bright side, if you've been following the speculation on who could be the eleventh Doctor, this could be a chance for the BBC to break new ground. Among the potential new Doctors is Russell Tovey, an openly gay actor, as well as Patterson Joseph, who would be the first person of color to play the Doctor. Either move would be a nice nod to Davies' legacy which has included the first queer companion (the fan favorite Captain Jack Harkness) as well as the first two companions of color (Mickey Smith and Dr. Martha Jones).

But who else could be the eleventh Doctor?

John Barrowman performs at Sir Andrew's birthday bash

Following this assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• On Sunday, out Torchwood and Shark Attack 3: Megalodon star John Barrowman hosted a concert for 400,000 people honoring the birthday of Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, who is best known for unleashing Cats and Phantom of the Opera on an unsuspecting theatregoing public. Idina Menzel, Jonathan Ansell, Joss Stone, Jason Donovan, Denise Van Outen and more also performed.

• Speaking of Captain Jack, how awesome would it be to have an openly gay actor playing Doctor Who? And how much awesomer would it be if that actor were rascally History Boy Russell Tovey?

• Get back! Sir Paul McCartney is poo-poohing claims in a recent book that John Lennon was secretly gay and in love with him.

• Above, from 365Gay: Take a look behind-the-scenes of Christian Siriano's amazing first solo show at Bryant Park's Fashion Week.

• Lance Bass talks about dancing with men, marriage, kids, and why he's hoofing for the title on Dancing With the Stars (Hint: It involves a little of his grandma and a lot of ridicule from his old bandmates).

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

Daniel Radcliffe, James Corden

In February I wrote about what appeared to be an ambush-snogging of poor Daniel Radcliffe at the What's On Stage Awards in London by actor James Corden (The History Boys). Daniel was just stepping up the podium when James grabbed Daniel and gave him one heck of a kiss. At the time I wrote about how if I were Radcliffe, I would've kneed Corden in the crotch.

Well, I ran into Corden at the Television Critics Association in Los Angeles where he is promoting his new show on BBC America, Gavin & Stacey. I got a chance to ask him about the infamous kiss and why he did it. Says Corden, "If you spent enough time with Dan, you can’t help but kiss him on the mouth. It’s a fact. There’s something magical about him, which is I imagine why he got the part [of Harry Potter], where he just draws you in. There were no tongues involved in that kiss. But, we both enjoyed it very much."

Did Daniel know Corden planned on kissing him? "No," says Corden. "I’ve known Dan a while and I came up to him in the wings [of the show] and he said, 'You’re not going to make fun of me or anything, are you?' I said, 'No. I might kiss you on the mouth.' And then he had to go on, so I had given him some pre-warning, yes."

As to how good a kisser Radcliffe turned out be, Corden has nothing but praise. "A wonderful, wonderful kisser, with a beautiful penis."

It turns out the straight Corden is quite in touch with his gay side as an actor. He played Daffyd "The only gay in the village" Thomas' gay brothe on Little Britain. He guested on Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive where he had a scripted snog with out actor Russell Tovey (both actors also appeared in the gay-friendly film The History Boys).

James Corden

(Picture courtesy of Getty Images/Frederick M. Brown)

As for Corden's new BBC America comedy Gavin & Stacey, the outrageous comedian says gay viewers will find at least a little queer content in the show. "We've got me – James Corden! [With me] we've got something for bears and for chubby chasers! It’s me and Matt. We are essentially the gayest straight men in the world. We’re essentially lesbians, I guess because if you had seen us when we got into LA yesterday, we went straight shopping like. I think there’s plenty there. The show has got a pretty big gay following n the U.K. And Stacey’s brother who arrives in episode five, he’s a gay character and – but never in any way that we – he’s just mentioned. I think the show is respectful and I think there’s quite a lot there."

But another character might be gay as well. "And Rob Brydon’s character Uncle Bryn, there’s perhaps a latent . . . I don’t want to say he is gay because we’ve never said that, but I think people who watch it might . . . can make up their own mind about it."

Out actor Russell Tovey 

Not that we needed further proof that American television is woefully behind the rest of the world in terms of censorship and content, but when the evidence is this round and perky, it's hard to ignore it.

Just this week on British television, two young actors bared their buns in two different dramas. Actually, probably a dozen more actors in a dozen more shows did the same, but for our purposes we'll focus on these fellas. Wait, did I say "focus"? I meant "drool".

First up is gay actor Russel Tovey, in the BBC drama Being Human. Well, the title says it all, really, as Tovey is featured as stripped-down and human as you can get several times in the show. Here's a relatively demure shot, and I've snuck in a few racier pics after the jump. 

Did I mention that Tovey plays a werewolf in this show? I guess even werewolves are manscaping in 2008.

Folks may know Tovey as sporty Rudge from The History Boys, but many don't know that he's openly gay. We're looking to see much more of this talent in the future ... wait, let me rephrase that ...

Our other bun-flasher is Mitch Hewer, who plays the beloved gay character Maxxie on the teen drama Skins. Nice to see that an otherwise straight show about teen relationships is objectifying the gay kid just like it does everyone else ... and it certainly doesn't hurt that Hewer has a body that could make a Bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window.

Enjoy more pics (a few are NSFW) after the jump! (For more, check out this site, who was kind enough to screencap all of this wonderfulness.)