Doctor Who is gearing up for the final episode in its’ three part season finale next week and already fans are clamoring for details about next Friday’s season ender. The finale has reunited the Doctor with four of his most recent companions in order to battle his most infamous nemesis; the Daleks.

In this installment, the Earth and 26 other planets have been moved to a different location in the universe by the Daleks and the Doctor and his latest companion, Donna Noble, are battling to stop the extermination of the human race. The Doctor is joined by Sarah Jane, a famous companion from the classic series we last met in season 3; Martha Jones, now a doctor herself for Unit, and Captain Jack Harkness, the leader of Torchwood. The most bittersweet and touching reunion though is with Rose Tyler, the Doctor’s companion throughout the first and second season who we last saw become trapped in an alternate dimension at the end of season 2.

Throughout this fourth season viewers have caught glimpses of Rose apparently trying to communicate with the oblivious Doctor, hinting at a future meeting sometime this season. As a huge fan of the show, I won’t deny a slight case of the waterworks when the Doctor and Rose finally reunited only to be thwarted by a Dalek shooting the Doctor. When last we saw, the Doctor was beginning to regenerate with Jack, Donna, and Rose all looking on leaving fans guessing as to what this means for the finale and the following specials during the 2009 break.

If you follow Doctor Who canon, then you understand that every time the Doctor regenerates his entire physical persona changes, which was always marked with a new actor taking over the famous role. Does this mean that this is the end of David Tennant’s run as the current Doctor? Fans are speculating feverishly as promotions for next week’s finale still show David Tennant in the role, but does this mean the regeneration fails? Or is it a new twist executive producer Russell T. Davies has planned? Davies won’t say for sure, but he tells The Daily Mirror that the show will go on with or without Tennant.

“I love David, and he is brilliant, but I was a child when Jon Pertwee handed over to Tom Baker,” he said. “I was 11 when Jon Pertwee left and it broke my heart. But then along came Tom and he was just spectacular in it, so I suspect that will happen again.”

Executives at the BBC as well as fans were concerned when Tennant took over for Christopher Eccleston at the end of the first season, but the audience quickly acclimated. “We change our cast every year, and our viewing figures go up,” he said. “It just proves that ‘Doctor Who’ is bigger than any actor. I couldn’t say David was the best Doctor ever because you are talking to an old ‘Doctor Who’ fan, and I love them all.”

The finale has already aired in Britain, but fans state-side are anxiously awaiting the finale this coming week and hoping for answers to the interesting questions this season has posed. Will Tennant continue on as the Doctor? Is Rose back to stay or must she return to her alternate dimension? What important role does Donna play in the defeat of the Daleks?

Tune in next Friday night to the Sci-Fi Channel for the answers in the hour and a half special season finale, “Journey’s End”.