It’s Saturday night. Door shut. The mother is banned from the living room. Even the dog – K9 – is not allowed to bark. Being Swiss and German respectively they just don’t get it. My half-British 11-year-old son does. He makes me share the experience with him. In fact, he persuaded me to buy the complete set of Dr Who episodes going back to the 1960s. I’ve been forced to watch the lot. Though, sometimes, it’s hard to concentrate. My son keeps asking questions during the show, such as are there any toilets on-board the Tardis, and if there are why does nobody go? And how do aliens do it?

Then, when he’s bored with me, he brings his mates round and has them watch while he translates. But I just lost my thread. Where was I going?

Oh, yes, the bit about the most exciting part of the series being seeing the Doctor die, then reborn in another body.

Soon-to-retire (die) David Tennant is said to be the best Doctor ever. I disagree. He might be a Time Lord, but the truth is he’s a man of his time, this time, not any time. He would never have been chosen for the part in the 1970s. Back then Doctors had to be fuddy duddy to qualify. So, let’s keep this in the present.

The big question now, er, in the future, is who will replace him? Who’s the Doctor for the next time? Robert Colville in today’s Daily Telegraph provides an exciting list of possibilities (while reminding us that there’s no better escape from the recession than climbing into the Tardis). But Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross are not on his list. Picking one of them to play the role would be a really good joke.