It’s been nearly a decade since Russell T Davies resurrected the British cult hit Doctor Who. Since the premiere of “Rose” on March 26, 2005, we’ve been through five Doctors (counting the War Doctor), numerous companions, and eight seasons of adventures through all of time and space. In 2010, both Davies and actor David Tennant wrapped up their run on Doctor Who, making way for incoming Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and new showrunner Steven Moffat. Having been instrumental in introducing Doctor Who to a whole new generation, will Davies ever return to the TARDIS, perhaps to write an episode or two in a future season? According to the man himself, we probably shouldn’t hold our collective breath.

The notions of roads not taken is a topic that’s popped up quite a bit over the years in Doctor Who — par for the course for a show that can go anywhere and anywhen. We’ve seen Rose Tyler alter the past and save her father…and learn why doing so brings about even more tragic circumstances. We’ve seen the Weeping Angels, frightening not only because they move when you’re not looking, but because they drop you alone in the past, feeding off what had been your potential future. But for a show that regularly recasts its main character, there are countless real-life roads not taken, choices that would have given us a very different Doctor Who than the one we have now. For instance, what if Russell T Davies’ 2004 relaunch of Who had starred not Christopher Eccleston, but former Doctor Tom Baker, or even Judi Dench?

They may sound far-fetched, but these were ideas that were tossed around in the early days when serious thought was finally being given to resurrecting the franchise, which had been off the air since the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie starring Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. There are some fascinating looks into that period included in The Unquiet Dead, a featurette on the special edition DVD release of The Green Death, which hit shelves this past summer. It includes interviews with former Who executive producer Russell T Davies and former BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning Jane Tranter.

With Doctor Who celebrating its 50th anniversary next year, fans are chasing rumors about what all the celebrations will entail. We’ve heard rumors of former Doctor actors returning, of long-lost companions putting in an appearances, even rumors that Matt Smith might regenerate, in spite of everyone involved in the production insisting he’s not leaving anytime soon. Well, now we can scratch one name off the guest list for sure: former showrunner Russell T Davies won’t be part of the hoopla.

Davies, as you might recall, was the guy responsible for kicking off the modern incarnation of Doctor Who, introducing the world to a new Doctor — Christopher Eccleston — and his companion, Rose Tyler, back in 2006. You’d think he would be a given to be involved in the anniversary in some fashion, but from the sound of things his exclusion is his own choice. In fact, he wants to be surprised along with the rest of us. During an interview with What’s on TV, Davies said, “I think I’d be like the ghost at the feast, what would I do – turn up and make the tea? I have asked current boss Steven Moffat not to tell me what they are planning.”

The latest season of the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood was not the show’s best outing.  Despite a promising premise, talented cast, and an international co-production that upped the show’s budget, Torchwood: Miracle Day descended into absurdity before finishing on a veritable cliffhanger.  There’s been no official word on when (or if) Torchwood will return, but one of its stars is opening up about what it might look like when it does.

In a recent interview with CultBox, Eve Myles – known to Torchwood fans as the ass kicking ex-policewoman Gwen – revealed that she is also in the dark about when the show might return.  Despite the fact that the showrunners “can just pick the phone up and [John Barrowman and I] will be there before they’ve even put the phone down”, everything regarding Torchwood is in a kind of limbo.  Myles cites nebulous “things” happening in Russell T. Davies’s personal life as a primary reason for the delay, but it’s likely that the new television show he’s been working on figures into it, as well.  The Welsh actress does say that Torchwood definitely won’t be back in 2012, though.

It was a bit surprising when Russell T. Davies – the man who resuscitated Doctor Who and created it’s sexed-up adult cousin Torchwood – decided to make a The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2007, but it also made a lot of sense.  The Doctor Who world is extremely popular and expanding into the children’s market with one of the Who-verse’s most beloved characters could capitalize on that.  With the death of star Elisabeth Sladen and the end of The Sarah Jane Adventures in 2011, it would have been understandable if that had been the end of Davies’s childrens’ television career.  It seems that Davies has a taste for it, though, as he’s now working on a new children’s show he’s created with Doctor Who and Sarah Jane Adventures writer Phil Ford, Aliens Vs Wizards.

Davies describes Aliens vs Wizards as “a wild, funny, thrilling and sometimes scary collision of magic and science fiction.”  The protagonists of the show are two teenaged boys – one wizard and one “science super-brain”.  An alien race called the Nekross comes to Earth in a destructive search for magic, and the two boys have to join together their talents to fight the aliens and protect their planet.  I’m curious as to what kind of restrictions or limits they will put on magic and how they’ll blend it together with science, since the two concepts don’t always sit well together.  Then again, it is a children’s show, so maybe resolving conflicting ontologies isn’t a big concern.