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It’s a good week to be a Whovian — Season 3 of Russell T. Davies’ new Doctor Who series premieres on the BBC next Sunday, March 31. And a fourth season has been greenlit for 2008!

Hello Magazine has some tantalizing details about the premiere of Season 3, which will introduce the Doctor’s new sidekick Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman):

“I always asked for a clause in my contract that ensured a screen kiss with David Tennant,” joked Freema, 27, who has replaced Billie Piper as the Time Lord’s new companion. Things between the two characters get off to a good start after they meet in a London hospital which is dramatically transported to the Moon.

“She’s working flat out as a medical student, then in walks the most amazing man who saves the world in front of her, so you can’t blame her if her heart goes pitter patter,” explains executive producer Russell T Davies. Russell, who also writes the Cardiff-lensed show, has given fans of the hit programme a boost by promising a fourth series in 2008, although it is unknown yet whether David will return as the time-travelling hero.

BBC News has some details, too:

The opening episode — Smith and Jones — sees the Doctor meet Martha in a London hospital, which is dramatically transported to the Moon. There they battle a blood-sucking alien and the Judoon — a clan of galactic stormtroopers.

As you would expect from a Russell T Davies-penned episode, it’s full of witty one-liners, some nasty bits to scare the younger viewers and breathtaking special effects.

I love the new Doctor Who — I think it’s my favorite thing that’s been on television since the early days of The West Wing, or possibly The Kids in the Hall.

I enjoy watching the classic Doctor Who stories from time to time, but I have to admit that sometimes those old episodes can be a little slow-moving, the quality is uneven, and while the low-budget special effects can be charming sometimes, there are only so many rubber monster suits you can stand.

So it’s been a joy to watch the new series unfold, and see the show finally get the kind of top-notch special effects and cinematic treatment it deserves. Writer-producer Russell T. Davies has given the series exactly what it needs: fast-paced episodes that keep you on the edge of your chair, brilliant casting, beautiful cinematography, and rapid-fire, witty dialogue with a quintessentially British sense of whimsy.

I think I was hooked during the very first episode of Season 1, when Billie Piper as Rose asks the Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston, “If you’re an alien, how come you sound like you’re from the North?” And the Doctor replies: “Lots of planets have a North.”

It’s the kind of “turn left at Greenland” line that could have come right out of A Hard Day’s Night or Help!, or maybe The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

For those who haven’t taken the plunge yet, what are you waiting for? Seasons 1 and 2 are both freely available through Netflix, or you can get them from Amazon.

Presumably here in the states Season 3 will follow the same pattern as Season 2 last year, airing first on the Sci-Fi channel (hopefully within a few months of the UK run), followed by the DVD release shortly thereafter.