Is it that time again? I think that it is.

The season finale of "Doctor Who" starts in 4 hours and 50 minutes. (Tired of "Doctor Who"? You are tired of life, mate.)

There will now be spoilers and speculation. You may wish to run away. Let me say that I am not an insider on the show. I know nothing. This week, despite my best intentions, I have perused websites for information on what is going to happen. Those websites also know nothing. The secrecy is apparently total. Nobody knows what is going to happen. I have stopped eating. I have stopped sleeping. I randomly mutter to myself and shout at people in the street. Jennifer has banned me from talking about "Doctor Who" in the house. I am obsessed.

To recap the main cliffhanger of last weeks episode: The Doctor is mortally wounded and is regenerating. What does this mean?

Well the main thing it means is that David Tennant will be leaving the series. Probably this evening.

Well... Could be, but if he is, how come he is in the Christmas special? Lots of photos on the web of him filming the Christmas story.

Actually that is easy to answer. Maybe they are doing a multi Doctor story featuring the old Doctor and the new Doctor? True, Russell T. Davies has said that he has never been a great fan of multi Doctor stories, but only this year we saw a multi Doctor crossover between the old (pre 2005) series and the new series when, as part of this years Children In Need appeal, there was a short story broadcast called "Time Crash" that featured Peter Davison (Doctor #5) and David Tennant. Also, "Time Crash" was written by Steven Moffat who, of course, will be the head honcho on the series from 2010 and has probably already got a say in the way he wants the series to progress.

If David Tennant is leaving the series, who will be replacing him? Easy, take a look at the cast list for the Christmas special, and step forward this man.



David Morrissey has been mentioned a couple of times as a potential Doctor. He has worked with Russell T. Davies (and David Tennant) before on "Blackpool", is already a semi familiar face on British TV, is a good actor and I think would not be a bad choice at all.

Nah, I don't believe it, for one reason and one reason only. I can believe that plot lines can be kept secret, but I think the replacing of the lead actor in "Doctor Who" would be practically impossible to keep secret. Unthinkable, in fact.

No new Doctor then.

Hang on a minute! Tennant is regenerating! There has got to be a new Doctor!

So, how about this: Maybe the new Doctor will be a temporary Doctor, who will only exist for the final episode of this series. Stay with me here. The finale is set in a time pocket - a pocket universe, if you will - out of sync with the normal universe. When good finally vanquishes evil I would imagine that the pocket universe will cease to exist. When that happens, maybe everything that has happened inside that universe will also cease to exist. So, bye bye new Doctor. Tennant returns!

Could be. If that happens, I will put my money on this guy being the temporary Doctor.



Did anybody watch the Graham Norton show on Thursday night? I never watch it normally, but Catherine Tate was on pushing "Doctor Who" and her appearance in some stage play or other. The other guest was James Nesbitt.

Why was James Nesbitt on the show? He had nothing to promote. He does not have a movie, play, TV series or book about to be released. He was just a guest on the show, for no reason whatsoever, sitting next to Catherine Tate. When was the last time you heard of a guest on the Graham Norton show with nothing to promote? Are the BBC playing games with us?

Might be.

Another theory about what might happen in the regeneration, and potential temporary Doctors.

Somebody on a message board pointed out that when Sylvester McCoy appeared in "Doctor Who Confidential", in a recently filmed interview, he looked to be dressed in a very Doctorish manner. There was also a line of dialogue in the last episode where Dalek Caan referred to the "threefold man".

Could something be about to go wrong with the regeneration? Maybe instead of regenerating into a new form The Doctor will degenerate into a previous form, or more than one previous form? Maybe Sylvester McCoy is about to pop up again? (Quick sidebar here. I will defend Sylvester McCoy's portrayal of The Doctor, at the end of the 80's, to the death. I admit that the first series he did was utter pants, but the last two series, showcasing a very dark Doctor, were kind of brilliant and only reduced by the lack of budget. End of sidebar.) Or Peter Davison? Or Paul McGann? Not Christopher Ecclestone. I don't believe Ecclestone would do it, even if he were paid a million pounds.

Might be. Or maybe something else will go wrong with the regeneration and we will end up with two David Tennant's. At the end you could have one go off with Rose back to her universe. A happy ending, except for The Doctor left behind.

Then there is the Donna Noble problem.

Who is she? What is she? We have been told over and over again this season that Donna is special, something new, something out of the ordinary. This was illustrated perfectly by the "Turn Left" episode where a single, small decision leads to her never meeting The Doctor, his subsequent death, the destruction of London, the death of millions, crisis in America and a neo fascist government in the United Kingdom. In fact The Doctor even explained his puzzlement at what happened. He explained that normally in such a case, time would adjust around an individual, the result being only minor changes to a timeline. In her case a full blown, completely different, parallel world sprang up. How could that happen for a normal person?

Well it wouldn't, would it? But maybe it would if you were a Time Lord.

Is Donna Noble a Time Lord, but doesn't know it? Could she have been adjusted by a Chameleon Arch like The Doctor in "Human Nature / The Family Of Blood" and The Master in "Utopia", with her Time Lord DNA rewritten to become human and a new persona wiping her memory and replacing her true identity? In a couple of hours are we going to discover that Donna was adopted by the Noble family as a baby and that Mom or Grandad have in their possession a very special kind of fob watch?

If so, which Time Lord could she be? Off the top of my head I can only name two female Time Lords: The Rani and Romana.

The Rani was a villain, so I think I will discount her. There is a big villain already on board for the finale.

That leaves Romana, companion to the 4th Doctor nearly 30 years ago. Interestingly enough, Romana rose through the ranks of the Time Lords to become President of Gallifrey, a position she was holding at the time of the Final Time War. (Don't believe me? Check it for yourself. It was mentioned in the "Doctor Who" Annual 2006, in an article written by Russell T. Davies.) Romana was the leader of the Time Lords. The most powerful Time Lord.

Is Donna Noble the 3rd regeneration of Romana?

Richard Dawkins was in "Doctor Who" last week playing himself. Guess who Richard Dawkins is married to? Lalla Ward. Can you guess what was Lalla Ward's most famous acting role? You got it.

Romana.

Will Lalla Ward be playing Romana in a flashback sequence set during the Final Time War? Oh, that would be just great?

2 hours and 10 minutes to go.

Of course, Donna Noble might not be a Time Lord. She might be a host for The Master.

Remember at the end of "The Last Of The Time Lords". The Master is dead, his body on a funeral pyre, burnt beyond recognition. A female hand wearing red nail polish takes The Master's ring from the burnt-out pyre. Could that hand have belonged to Donna Noble? Is The Master about to return?

Don't even get me started on the Osterhagen Key...

Time to go.

Save us Doctor!