The show returns this Spring for a fourth series, and will encore as four specials in 2009 before returning for a fifth full series in 2010. While there has been no official comment on the future of Doctor Who beyond that, Davies reveals that the establishment of this transmission pattern will help to ensure the show's longevity.

"Doctor Who is now one of the BBC's biggest flagship shows," he tells SFX. "And this sort of pattern will guarantee it being on air for twenty years.

"It's no good looking at that American pattern of making seven years if you're lucky - that's just not going to work. Who wants it to die after seven years? It's much bigger than that.

"It needs looking after, in the sense that it needs pauses, it needs its legend revamping every so often. If you build these pauses in now and say this will always happen, that's part of the plan now - it's literally a twenty year plan, which can't be guaranteed, because different people will be in charge in years to come - but if you present them with something rock solid, that is working, and has a unique transmission pattern that shouldn't be interfered with, then it will stay."

You can read the full, world exclusive interview in SFX 168, on sale Wednesday 12 March, where Davies tackles such topics as the casting of Catherine Tate, the rise of the online critic and the true story behind the return of Billie Piper. All part of SFX's first-look preview of Doctor Who series four.

Free Doctor Who DVDs With The Sun & The News Of The World

If you can’t wait for the new series of Doctor Who, which is back on our screens soon, then The Sun and The News Of The World have got just what the doctor ordered! Starting on Saturday March 15, they're offering every reader a FREE Dr Who DVD.

The fantastic new DVD collection includes six great episodes from the last two series -three episodes each from Series Two and from Series Three - starring David Tennant as The Doctor and his companions Rose Tyler and Martha Jones along with much loved characters such as Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 and adversaries including the Master, the Cybermen and of course, the Daleks. Watch The Doctor as he battles to save the Earth and travels through time and experiences wonderful adventures.

To get your hands on your DVDs simply cut out each of the vouchers printed in The Sun on Saturday March 15 - the News of the World on Sunday, March 16, and The Sun from Monday March 17 until Thursday March 20 - and take them into any participating Asda or Martin McColls store each day for your free DVD.

Alternatively, keep hold of your vouchers and we'll post the whole lot to you for just £4.50! Plus, if you sign up to be notified about other great offers first, you’ll also get a FREE Sarah Jane audio book worth £5.99 thrown in!

 

Doctor Who Adventures 55 | Out Now!

 

Click the pic to enlarge!

 

This week’s Doctor Who Adventures looks at the (almost) silent stars of Voyage of the Damned, the Heavenly Host.

Read all the essential information on these horrible androids and find out what happened to them aboard the Titanic.

Our special photo story this issue is about Time Crash, where the Fifth Doctor ends up in the Tenth Doctor’s TARDIS.

The issue comes with an essential piece of kit for all Time Agents – a special Doctor Who log book with a pen and some cool stickers.

PLUS:

• Posters: we’ve got Judoon, the Fifth Doctor and Host!
• The Ultimate Guide to Doctor Who – The Runaway Bride to Evolution of the Daleks.
• Quiz: this week we have some questions about the Doctor.
• Doctor’s Data: who is Donna Noble?
• Comic strip: Part two of a comic strip – Reign of the Stone Monkey.
• Make: a child of the Slitheen mask – yuck!
• Time Teasers: help Bloodtide and Doomfinger with this week’s word search and brain teasers.
• Who knows! Your questions answered.
• Secrets: discover who the Catkind of New Earth were created.
• Win: loads of Doctor Who goodies!
• Subscription offer: subscribe and get a free Cyberman watch!
• AND LOADS MORE!

Doctor Who Adventures issue 55, priced £2.10, is out on Thursday 13 March. Grab your copies before the Host get you!

 

Cuddle up with the latest Doctor Who Magazine!

There’s a complete new Doctor Who audio adventure FREE with the latest issue of DWM!

Cuddlesome is a brand new adventure for the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, co-starring Roberta Taylor, Timothy West, and David Troughton.

"It’s about a dastardly plot to infect the world," says Peter, "because someone was nasty to someone when they were young! It’s a nice idea – toys are the perfect way to get to the population. Evil!"

Also this issue, DWM counts down the 100 Greatest Doctor Who Death Scenes of All Time!

Doctor Who’s current executive producer Russell T Davies leads the comments on the programme’s most memorably morbid moments. Speaking about the battle between the Raston Warrior Robot and the Cybermen in 1983’s The Five Doctors – out now on DVD! – Russell enthuses, "Best. Massacre. Ever. Heads go flying! Arms! Guts! On Children in Need night! We should really bring those Rastons back one day, they were brilliant..."

"I hope so," laughs Terrance Dicks, the writer of the story, "there’ll be a few quid in it for me!"

Meanwhile, writer Steven Moffat is full of praise for Pete Tyler’s death in 2005’s Father’s Day ("just chilling, and tragic and unforgettable") while fellow scribe Paul Cornell raves over Harrison Chase’s grisly demise in 1976’s The Seeds of Doom – "Just gorgeous. Apt and relishable. One of the absolute best Doctor Who deaths."

But whose demise could top the list as the all-time Number One...?

And there’s much, much more in DWM 393:

• "30 Reasons to be excited about Series 30" – with exclusive new photos from the new series!
• Martha Jones herself, alias Freema Agyeman answers questions from the dreaded TARDIS tin!
• Script-writer Gareth Roberts reveals how the Doctor and Donna are set to meet Agatha Christie, as he discusses his forthcoming adventure, The Unicorn and the Wasp!
• The Fact of Fiction uncovers the truth behind 1066 and all that as it examines The Time Meddler!
• Novice Hame actress Anna Hope speaks about her new Doctor Who audio role.
• Nightmarish creatures fill the final chilling chapter of full colour comic strip Universal Monsters.
• Russell T Davies extols the new-found virtues of an oft-neglected Tom Baker tale.
• Neil Harris bemoans the ‘worst story ever’ in You Are Not Alone.
• The Time Team find that it’s grim up north as they watch The Mark of the Rani.
• PLUS all the latest news, exclusive photos, reviews, previews, DVD competitions and even more!

DWM 393 is out on 6 March 2008, priced £3.99