You'll Like This, But Not A Lot, Davros.

Yesterday, the BBC released a new promotional image for the forthcoming Matt Smith era of Doctor Who, which got fanboys very excited indeed. However, it's been somewhat overshadowed by the leaking of an image that was found down the back of John Nathan-Turner's fridge, dating from 1987. It features his choice of successor to Colin Baker, along with an assortment of colourful characters the Seventh Doctor would meet. Had the proposed star not been trying to get Hollywood funding for a Wizbit movie at the time, things might have been very different.

Aside from JNT's favourite motif, the excess of question marks on the Doctor's costume, the clothing was just a modification of Paul Daniels's own suit he wore on his top-rated magic show. The fact that Steven Moffat has opted for a toned-down variation for the Eleventh Doctor is not too much of a surprise; later in the 2010 series, we've been promised a return of the Kandyman and Sabalom Glitz. Hale and Pace are due to reprise their roles as the hilarious shopkeepers from Survival, and we can also look forward to the return of Ken Dodd's Tollmaster. "John Nathan-Turner was a very successful producer on Doctor Who," said Moffat yesterday, "and he's got his detractors, but he must've done something right to be in charge of the show for so long. What we're looking to do is emulate parts of his era, which means plenty of returning monsters, like the Tetrap and the Kitlings. We've recently found the original props and costumes for these in a skip, so they'll be back on your screens intact very shortly. Kids will never look at cats in the same way again."

Something that JNT was fond of was shoehorning light entertainment stars into episodes of Doctor Who, and Moffat is keen to return to this noble tradition (more so than Russell T Davies did, anyway). Soon, we'll be seeing Bruce Forsyth's Borusa, Christopher Biggins as the Meddling Monk, and Bernie Nolan as the Rani. "I have as much respect for the Time Lords as my predecessor, so it's only right we do them justice," says Moffat.

So, a bold new era for the 47 year old show. It might have been so different had they not discovered JNT's promo sheet.

Paul Daniels was unavailable for comment. Nor was his assistant, the lovely Debbie McGee.