Initially, it was reported that DT would do this season (2007-2008), then next season would only consist of 3 specials, in order to give him release time to do some Shakespearean theatre, followed by another season in 2009-2010.  However:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7145965.stm

I'm not sure what this means, in terms of his leaving after the 2008 season or the 2010, but I'm bummed either way.   :(

This would be sort of disappointing (I like Tennant as well), but I wouldn't put much stock in Tate's suggestion. What I read in that article was a "maybe, sort of, possibly" statement, perhaps making reference to something she heard about Tennant's release time. From what I've seen of him, Tennant really enjoys this role, so unless something major is going on I don't see him dropping it anytime soon.

It doesn't seem like even she really has any idea, more like her thinking out loud.

I wouldn't worry about it too much.  I do hope he stays though.

isn't he the last doc?  how many are there?

Ten so far.  I believe each Time Lord nomrally gets a total of twelve incarnations.

is that counting the american doctor?

Yes.  He is number 8, but that movie was his only official appearance.

And even if they "officially" run out of regenerations, that won't stop them from continuing... they'll just make up some pseudo-scientific reason why the Doctor gets a new lease on life. The Master was supposedly on his last regeneration back in the 1970s, and he still keeps coming back.

Quote from: catwhowalksbyhimself on December 16, 2007, 06:20:43 AM
Ten so far.  I believe each Time Lord nomrally gets a total of twelve incarnations.

Twelve re-incarnations + the original, for a total of 13.

There has been talk that the current producers simply plan to ignore that limitation for the current run of the show.

Sorry, I'm a fairly recent Dr. Who fan, so I remembered it wrong.

the most current rumour is that him and the master will swap bodies therefore having tennant play the villain and die and John Simm continue on as the doctor

Quote from: the_ultimate_evil on December 16, 2007, 11:56:39 AM
the most current rumour is that him and the master will swap bodies therefore having tennant play the villain and die and John Simm continue on as the doctor

I doubt that even more then I do Tennant leaving... It's been stated that they have no plans to re-introduce the Master again during this run of the series, and to switch John Simm into playing as the Doctor would be a stretch to begin with.

As for the 13 lives... in one of the final episodes in the last season (third to last if I recall correctly) The Master makes a statement to the effect of "If the Doctor can be young and strong again, why can't I?" and then regenerates despite being well past his lives. Though it's been sort of taken as fact we're only on Doctor 10, the statement seems to indicate that the Doctor cracked the 13 lives problem.

QuoteAs for the 13 lives... in one of the final episodes in the last season (third to last if I recall correctly) The Master makes a statement to the effect of "If the Doctor can be young and strong again, why can't I?" and then regenerates despite being well past his lives. Though it's been sort of taken as fact we're only on Doctor 10, the statement seems to indicate that the Doctor cracked the 13 lives problem.

Although I haven't seen those episodes, I thought I read somewhere that the Time Lords had granted The Master a new set of regenerations in order to help with the Time War?  That would make that statement simply an acknowledgment that The Doctor still has some regenerations left, and now The Master does too.

Yes, in the finale of last Season the Master said that the Time Lords brought him back to help during the Time War (implying that he was given a full set of regenerations- of course, he used one already); and of course he promptly ran as far and fast away as possible.

However, that does imply that the regeneration problem has been "cracked"...

That's nothing new.  If I remember properly, in the U.S. movie, it was stated that The Master begged the Time Lords for more regenerations and was denied, which is why he tries to steal The Doctor's.

I could be remembering wrong, though.

Also, technically, the Doctor's last (12th?) regeneration has already been revealed as a rather nasty piece of work:  The Valyard, from The Trial of a Time Lord.  I don't recall anything from that having invalidated the Valyard's existence.

Quote from: Panther_Gunn on December 16, 2007, 08:37:19 PM
Also, technically, the Doctor's last (12th?) regeneration has already been revealed as a rather nasty piece of work:  The Valyard, from The Trial of a Time Lord.  I don't recall anything from that having invalidated the Valyard's existence.

I thought the Valeyard was books only. Not sure if he's TV show cannon.

Quote from: bredon7777 on December 16, 2007, 08:48:49 PM

Quote from: Panther_Gunn on December 16, 2007, 08:37:19 PM
Also, technically, the Doctor's last (12th?) regeneration has already been revealed as a rather nasty piece of work:  The Valyard, from The Trial of a Time Lord.  I don't recall anything from that having invalidated the Valyard's existence.

I thought the Valeyard was books only. Not sure if he's TV show cannon.

He's canon all right.

Quote from: catwhowalksbyhimself on December 16, 2007, 05:10:55 PM
That's nothing new.  If I remember properly, in the U.S. movie, it was stated that The Master begged the Time Lords for more regenerations and was denied, which is why he tries to steal The Doctor's.

Don't recall... it's been a long time since I saw the movie. The Time Lords did say they could give the Master a new set of regenerations in "The Five Doctors".

Quote from: bredon7777 on December 16, 2007, 08:48:49 PM
I thought the Valeyard was books only. Not sure if he's TV show cannon.

The Valeyard was introduced in season 23, during Colin Baker's run.

Although IIRC the Valeyard wasn't the Doctor's final regeneration, but rather an evil version of himself that existed in between his 12th version and his final, 13th, version (similar, I imagine, to the "Watcher" version of himself that appeared when he was about to regenerate into Peter Davison). 

I wasn't watching by that time, so I can't really comment on the accuracy of that statement, but I seem to remember reading something about that.

Mwahaha!

Also, nice little trailer for Voyage of the Damned.

Tennant has  specifically stated he has not made any decisions beyond the 4 "specials " in 2009, giving him an  opportunity to stretch his acting legs, so to speak. He made the same ambiguous comments about series 4. Im comfortable that he will be back for series five, but beyond that, I don't know. If they give him enough freedom for side projects, he could be on for several more years to come.

Just to expand on what B A D said...

Quote from: David Tennant www.david-tennant.com 12/19/07
Catherine Tate sparked fresh rumours at the weekend when she said in a radio interview that she thought the next series would be David's last.

But David says: "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, 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."

David 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.

For the record, I sort of doubt he will end up leaving the series just yet. Everything I've seen of him says that he loves this role, and it would be sort of silly for the producers to waste a year with just specials if there wasn't a good chance he was returning.