One of the later episodes of the upcoming season of Doctor Who will be missing someone vital - namely The Doctor himself..

For the last two seasons there has been a ‘ Doctor - lite ‘ episode featuring towards the end of a season where he only appears for a few minutes..

The first one was ” Love and Monsters ” which many consider one of the worst episodes produced since the British sci - fi show’s revival in 2005.. On the flipside was last year’s ” Blink ” which many consider one of the absolute best Who episodes ever made..

Now an insider tells Tomorrow’s Entertainment that this year we’ll see the three regular ‘ companions ‘ that have featured since the British sci - fi show’s revival in 2005, namely Rose Tyler ( Billie Piper ), Martha Jones ( Freema Agyeman ) and Donna Noble ( Catherine Tate ), will be the stars as they race to save the Time Lord and the Universe..

In other news, its been confirmed that both Sarah Jane Smith ( Elisabeth Sladen ) and Captain Jack Harkness ( John Barrowman ) will be returning for at least one episode each, whilst Martha Jones will reappear in the series for five episodes starting with the fourth episode ” The Sontaran Stratagem ” which also brings back that classic series warrior race..

Also Steven Moffat, the best writer of the new series by far ( ” Blink,” ” The Girl in the Fireplace,” ” The Empty Child ” ) will be pening both halves of the second two - part episode for the season.. For those who missed the Christmas Special and its season four promo, that clip is available above and shows off bits from episodes ranging from the Fall of Pompeii to visiting Agatha Christie and the return of the Ood..

Finally today comes a trailer for the upcoming second season of Torchwood, the footage showing off the various alien threats, Buffy star James Marsters as a rogue time agent, even a Jack / Ianto hardcore snog.. The new season begins airing 16th January in the UK on BBC2 and 26th January in the US on the Sci - Fi Channel..