Catherine Tate has hinted she could return to 'Doctor Who' and "hopes" there will be a female Time Lord one day.
Catherine Tate
The 47-year-old comedienne portrayed the Doctor's companion Donna Noble from 2006 to 2008 alongside David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor, and she admitted the sci-fi show's bosses are experts in finding ways of bringing back characters fans aren't expecting.
When 'Lorraine' host Lorraine Kelly said she could come back as Donna's great-great grandmother or her great-great granddaughter, referring to the show's time travelling element, Catherine replied: "Yes, it doesn't matter.
"They do tend to find really clever ways of bringing people back where you think, 'There's no way.' "
However, Catherine admitted she isn't expecting to reprise her role as Donna after her character departed at the end of series four when she effectively saved the universe at a huge cost after having her memory wiped.
She said: "With my character I don't think she could because of the nature of how she left ... she sort of can't come back."
Meanwhile, there has been months of speculation that the Time Lord role could be taken on by a woman one day, and Catherine would love to see a female play the part.
She said: "I hope there is ... I'm sure there will be a female Doctor one day."
While Catherine may not play Donna on screen again, she has thoroughly enjoyed recording some 'Doctor Who' audiobooks.
She said: "We've recorded some audio plays ... I that is the right word because they're not books they're plays. That was lovely. Lovely."
Changes are afoot on 'Doctor Who' in 2017 with current executive producer Steven Moffat set to leave.
Peter Capaldi is also rumoured to be departing his role as the current Time Lord in 2017 to give new showrunner Chris Chibnall a "fresh start."
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