It's the pairing they said would never happen. Blackadder and Dr Who. Well maybe that's not quite what will happen, but it is intriguing to hear the news that Richard Curtis is going to write an episode of Dr Who. Curtis hardly needs the work or the money, but says that he wanted to write something that would impress his children. Presumably they haven't stopped squirming with embarrassment after seeing The Boat That Rocked – and neither have I.

The word on the blogosphere is that the Curtis episode will feature time travel in some way and a historical figure will be involved. Hence the rumour mill grinding into action and prompting the annual gossip of a Blackadder revival. I suppose Blackadder and Dr Who do have some things in common. Both are iconic characters who inspire loyal followings and keep going through different incarnations. The only real difference is that Blackadder has always been played by the same actor. Oh, and no-one who has played Dr Who has gone on to play Mr Bean.

Of course, Rowan Atkinson is no stranger to Timelords. History has a habit of conveniently forgetting certain facts, but Atkinson has actually played Dr Who himself in the not too distant past. He took on the role in 1999 in The Curse of Fatal Death, part of a Comic Relief Night special which also featured Jonathan Pryce and Joanna Lumley fondling the sonic screwdriver.

There was even talk of Atkinson assuming the role of Dr Who more regularly after his cameo, but at the time the appetite for television revivals was not quite as ferocious as it was a few years later and the suggestion was forgotten about. And now that there is a new Dr Who on the block played by floppy-fringed juvenile lead Matt Smith the chances of fiftysomething Atkinson getting the role in the future are probably slimmer than Fatty McFat Who Can't Stop Eating Fried Fish winning the Slimmer of the Year Award.

Still, we should applaud Curtis for dipping his toes into the world of telly sci-fi. I’m not sure if it’ll be a success on the scale of the Blackadder cycle, but it has got to be less cheesy than Love, Actually.