TVSquad

See, this is what I get for believing a story from a paper owned by Rupert Murdoch! Earlier today I posted that the current version of Doctor Who was ending it's very successful run next year. That particular piece of information came from the UK piece of toilet paper tabloid The Sun. Well, that may not actually be the case.

According to an article at the MediaGuardian website the fate of Doctor Who hasn't been decided yet. According to a BBC spokesperson ( a BBC drama spokesperson, at that) executive producer Russell Davies has signed on to oversee this year's Christmas special and the fourth series. However, his involvement after that is still up in the air, which seems to mean that the show would continue on without him. In fact, a senior BBC source says that there is no way that the show would be axed even if Davies decided to leave.

The Sun article reported that Davies, who is burnt out from the 16-hour production days, wanted to end the show while it was still on top in popularity and the ratings. The article went on to say that the senior Who staff were hatching a plan for a mass resignation in the summer of 2008.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

According to UK tabloid The Sun the newest incarnation of Doctor Who, which has been a hit both in the UK and here in North America, will be ending its run after the fourth series finishes up next year. The decision to end it didn't come from executives over at BBC1. Rather, it came from Executive Producer Russell T. Davies, the man who relaunched the adventures of the good Doctor back in 2006.

According to The Sun article Davies wants to concentrate on other projects. So, he's decided to end the show while it's still on top in the ratings (the show is watched by 8 million viewers in the UK each week). David Tennant, who has portrayed the Doctor since the second series, has signed on to continue playing the role through the end of the series.

What is it about Doctor Who that makes people want to leave? First we had Christopher Eccleston (The Doctor) calling it quits after one series. Then Billie Piper (Rose) left after two. Now The Sun is reporting that David Tennant (The Doctor) may not be coming back after he finishes series three, his second with the show. According to reports, he has been offered £1million to come back for series four. Digging out the calculator, converting pounds to dollars, dividing by episodes, that's more than what those crazy kids over at Lost are getting.

Of course, he could also be floating his exit in the press as a bargaining tool. Maybe he wants more money, a personal chef, or just all the Toblerone he can possibly eat. Whatever the case, I'd like to see him stick around. I'm really enjoying his work as The Doctor in series two, currently airing in the U.S. on SciFi. But given the recent history of the show, anything can happen.