2006
Doctor Who began to embrace its past with the guest appearances of both Sarah Jane Smith and K9, but just one year after making it back to TV screens, it finally achieved a spin-off series that lasted more than just a pilot, in the form of Torchwood. Based on a stand alone sci-fi concept called Excalibur that Davies had devised previously, the Torchwood Institute on which it centred was introduced as the meme running through the second season of Doctor Who, but was altogether a more adult show, including violence, sex, and rather colourful language.
2007
Now firmly established not just with those who remember it, but those not even born when it was originally cancelled, Doctor Who made up for lost time with a vengeance. Not content with just one, The Sarah Jane Adventures was the shows second spin-off in as many years, this time catering almost exclusively to the newer generation. Joined by her adopted android son Luke, super computer Mr Smith and a close group of friends, leaving the TARDIS didn't stop journalist Sarah Jane from having her own adventures, and saving the Earth in her own way.
2008
Replacing Martha, companion Donna Noble boarded the TARDIS once again, becoming the regular companion in a season that had mixed reaction from fans. As much as Donna was a welcome change from the previous teenager/twentysomething fawning over the Doctor (even if she was still a female Londoner), many considered her loud and brash attitude to be too similar to many of her other characters, particularly those from her sketch shows. Like Martha she also stayed for only season, and although she had perhaps the most emotional exit from the series since its revival, even that came at the expense of Rose's, whose own emotional exit from series 2 was negated by her return.