Saxon Mania

First we were howling and prowling around Bad Wolf. Then we were tantalised and teased by Torchwood. But now there's a new buzz word being dropped in the new season of Doctor Who - 'Saxon'.

This name is set to gain continued significance as the weeks go by. We even know who will be playing the role of Saxon in later episodes - Life On Mars star John Simm. One brief glimpse of him has already been seen in a trailer for the new series, with Saxon emitting a distinctively smug grin in front of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.

But the Saxon wheels were set in motion long before new companion Martha Jones entered the Tardis. In last year's 'Love and Monsters' episode, Peter Kay's Abzorbaloff monster is seen reading The Daily Telegraph newspaper with the prominent headline 'Saxon leads polls with 64%'.

Then, amidst the snowfall and spiders of 'The Runaway Bride' in crept another reference. As the tanks prepared to gun down the Emperess of Racnoss' star-shaped ship, we learn that the orders to 'fire at will' are given from a Mr Saxon. So perhaps he's followed in the footsteps of Harriet Jones and the farts of the Slitheen by taking command of 10 Downing Street? In what capacity exactly, we've yet to find out.

Judging by the 'Vote Saxon' posters lurking in the alleyway as Martha prepared to hop on board the Tardis in her first episode, he's either a Prime Minister standing for re-election or a prominent cabinet minister trying to gain power. This propagandist material was also seen in the penultimate episode of Torchwood's first season, on the walls of a delapidated dancehall.

'Smith and Jones' also threw up a non-visual Saxon mention following Martha's return from the moon. As she's sat listening to the radio in her living room, a news report of the incident springs out a familiar name. Young medical student Oliver Morgenstern, an eyewitness to the bizarre lunar events, is interviewed and states: "It all just proves Mr Saxon right - we are not alone in the universe."

Doctor Who supremo Russell T Davies' love of Buffy The Vampire Slayer is well documented and the two shows share a stark similarity with their ongoing story arcs in each season. Traditionally, each Buffy season contains a 'Big Bad', an arch nemesis who will be encountered in earlier episodes leading to an explosive two-part finale.

Daleks and Cybermen were those enemies in the first and second season of Doctor Who respectively, but it appears that Saxon - confirmed by Simm as a baddie - will not be directly encountered in any early episodes. Hence why those references and visual glimpses are set to play a prominent role until he finally appears in the last two stories of the year - entitled 'The Sound of Drums' and 'Last of the Time Lords'.

As for who or what lies behind Saxon, the tabloids and online fan communities have been rampant with speculation and conspiracy theories. Could he really be The Master in disguise? Or maybe The Doctor's long lost brother? Perhaps Dalek creator Davros has transplanted his brain and unlimited rice pudding into the body of a young politician (presumably after Bruno Langley's body tissue was deemed incompatible)? Who knows! It'll certainly be a lot of fun finding out...