Doctor Who Will Not Be Treated To A Bit Of Jennifer Saunders

Who nerds everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief after David Tennant has reassured them that he will not be hanging up his coat as the Gallifreyan Time Lord.

The confusion came about after Catherine Tate (who will be the Doctor’s new companion in 2008) opened her pie hole and reckoned that Tennant would be filming “his last season”, leaving the UK press scrambling with ideas for replacements, from the reasonable (James Nesbitt) to the outrageous (Jennifer Saunders!).

Tennant, speaking at the launch of the Christmas episode, said: “Catherine Tate stitched me up good and proper.”

“I started getting all these phone calls on Saturday lunchtime saying apparently you’re leaving Doctor Who,” Tennant told the BBC. “Catherine Tate’s just announced it on Radio 2 – thanks Catherine!”

He added: “I said to her on Monday morning did you know you’ve caused a minor diplomatic incident? She was completely oblivious that the phone had been ringing off the hook.”

Tennant confirmed he was doing four Doctor Who specials in 2009, but there was no decision about the next series in 2010.

“I’m doing four more specials and beyond that no one’s asked me to make any decisions and I’m quite happy to be enigmatic for as long as possible,” he said.

And, just to further meld the furiously frothing saliva of various dedicated fan bases, Kylie Minogue will be appearing in the Christmas episode, Voyage Of The Damned (pictured above), as a waitress onboard the Titanic, Astrid Peth.

Maybe she can do a gig at G.A.Y. with the Daleks, then?