Will a Doctor Who companion die in 2008?

Not since Adric bought it at the end of Earthshock, back in the Peter Davison era, has a Doctor Who companion been killed in action. Most simply decide to get out of the blue box and go and do something else instead. But with Billie Piper, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman and John Barrowman all crowding into the finale of Doctor Who season four later this year, could this be the time when one of them has to go?

The rumoured end of the season, of course, sees the return of Davros (who will or won't be played by Ben Kinglsey, depending on who you talk to and, er, what Internet gossip site they read). And that should set the scene for a proper, ferocious battle of sorts, that perhaps brings in the whole Time War arc that's been talked about for the past three years.

But with Billie back for a couple of episodes, and Catherine Tate confirming this will be her only series of the show, this is surely a chance to knock one of them off (and make sure you take the right meaning of that)?  Because, let's face it, John Barrowman is the Face of Boe and thus won't die for donkeys, and Freema should be fairly safe for the time being, at least off the back of the Torchwood gig.

So our prediction for 2008? That Catherine Tate will be bumped off in the line of duty, which given the preview of her being, er, Catherine Tate at the end of the 2007 Christmas special, isn't likely to be a bad thing.

Or, of course, they'll also survive. But where's the fun in that?