Doctor Who takes a gap year to go travelling? And turns into Doctor When?

The third “new” series of Doctor Who finished at the end of June with Martha staying behind, leaving the Doctor to head off towards his Christmas adventure and an appointment with the Kylie Minogue and the Titanic.

They’re currently filming the fourth series, with Martha Jones (played by Freema Agyeman, originally known for her fiery character in the revamped but short-lived Crossroads) swapping into the spin-off Torchwood production, before returning to the cast for the second half of the main series. Donna, the runaway bride from Christmas 2006 (played by Catherine Tate) will accompany the Doctor throughout the entire fourth series.

Airing in 2008, the fourth series was expected to be Russell T Davies last. There was speculation that Steven Moffat (who already writes several episo des a season) would take over executive producer/show runner responsibilities, leaving Davies free to work on other shows. Moffat was rumoured to be partnering up with recent colleague James Nesbitt, who would play the new Doctor.

However, a different compromise seems to have been reached with Russell T Davies signing up to write and produce three Doctor Who specials during 2008 (for transmission in 2009), significantly reducing his commitment down from the current 9 months it takes to produce a full series, and leaving him free to pursue some other projects during the slack. He’s promised to return (though not necessarily with David Tennant as the Doctor) to run series five.

So what will the Doctor do while we’re not following him?

Update: In fact, at last night’s TV Quick and TV Choice Awards ceremony, Doctor Two scooped the Best Loved Drama plaudit, while David Tennant won Best Actor. Oh, and Torchwood picked up the gong for Best New Drama.