I alarmed my coworkers by actually squealing with delight when I read this next bit of news. The BBC is bringing back Doctor Who in 2005.

Doctor WhoӔ set to return to TV

The new series will be fun, exciting, contemporary and scary,Ӕ series writer Russell T Davies said.
Although IӒm only in the early stages of development, Im aiming to write a full-blooded drama which embraces the Doctor Who heritage,Ҕ he said.

No word yet on who will play The Doctor or any other details, but the fact that the show will return is still enough to get me all excited.

UPDATE: There’s more on this on the Telegraph news website.

But in a development that may alarm purists, the new series is being written by Russell T Davies, the creator of Queer As Folk, the controversial Channel 4 drama about gay life in Manchester, and Bob and Rose, an ITV drama about a homosexual man falling for a straight woman.

Although Davies says he wants to “introduce the character to a modern audience”, Lorraine Heggessey, the controller of BBC1, insisted yesterday that she did not expect a gay Doctor Who.

She stressed that Davies had been chosen primarily because he is an “absolute Doctor Who fanatic” who had asked to write a new series.

She said it was too early to say which of the doctor’s most famous enemies, who include the Cybermen, the Master and the Sea Devils, would return, but insiders said it was unthinkable that the Daleks would not be trundling back into action.

The actor who will follow in the footsteps of such popular Dr Whos as Tom Baker, has not yet been considered, she said. Possible candidates include Richard E Grant, who is appearing in a BBC internet version of Doctor Who, Paul McGann, who starred in the 1996 version, and Alan Davies, who has been linked to the role in the past.

I would be happy to see Paul McGann return to the role as the 8th Doctor considering that he only got to play the part for the one failed American TV pilot produced for the FOX network. I thought he did a decent job with the movie and would like to see more of his interpretation of the character.