The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

BBC green lights Doctor Who series 3

Dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, dum-de-dum, wee-yah

Free whitepaper – Total cost of ownership of Dell, HP and IBM blade solutions

The BBC confirmed this week that a third series of Doctor Who - plus a second Christmas special - has been commissioned. The first series of the revived Doctor Who concludes at Saturday (18 June) with the ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, squaring off against the Daleks in his final appearance as the eponymous Time Lord.

Filming of the Christmas special and second series with Casanova star David Tennant, Eccleston's replacement and the tenth Doctor, is due to begin in July. Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, said that Billie Piper, who plays the Doctor's companion Rose Tyler, will feature in every episode of series two, contrary to earlier reports in the Science Fiction trade press.

Writer Russell T Davies will pen six episodes of series two, which will mark the return of Gold-adverse baddies the Cybermen. Davies told BBC Breakfast that Eccleston's departure was "a great loss" but added that Tennant was more than up to the job of playing the Doctor and would give the series "a new lease of life". ®

Related stories

Eccleston quits as Dr Who 2 gets green light
Doctor Who leak culprit walks plank
Flying golden Daleks menace the web
Daleks invade Blackpool
Missing Dalek found on Glastonbury Tor
Fears grow for kidnapped Dalek

Free whitepaper – Thermal design of Dell PowerEdge server

Don’t Miss

DustbinDirty, dirty PCs: The X-rated picture guide

Ventblockers Horror beyond human imagination

SC09Top 500 supers - rise of the Linux quad-cores

SC09 Jaguar munches Roadrunner

Ubuntu teaser Early adopters bloodied by Ubuntu's Karmic Koala

Smooth Windows upgrade it ain't

Sign up, sign up for The Register IT security newsletter

Narrowcasting for the email classes