"Absolutely Fabulous" star Jennifer Saunders is in talks to play the first female incarnation of The Doctor for a one-off special episode of "Doctor Who" reports The Sun.

Fans of the show were left shocked earlier this month when current Doctor David Tennant's co-star Catherine Tate let slip during a radio interview that it could be his last series.

Since then both James Nesbitt and Rhys Ifans names have been bandied about as 'favourite' potential replacements, but Tennant himself later denied the claim, saying he hasn't made up his mind yet about continuing but is committed to not only the still shooting fourth season but four further TV specials after that.

Saunders' AbFab co-star Joanna Lumley portrayed a female version of The Doctor starring alongside the likes of Hugh Grant, Richard E. Grant, Jim Broadbent, Rowan Atkinson and Jonathan Pryce in the 1999 Comic Relief skit 'Curse of the Fatal Death' (her cameo is on Youtube). That skit was penned by Steven Moffat, the strongest writer of the series and the man tipped to take over from show runner Russell T. Davies.