Although he has handed over the production reins on Doctor Who to Steven Moffat, Russell T Davies will be continuing as executive producer of the Sarah Jane Adventures, which has been awarded 24 new episodes, to be broadcast in Autumn 2010 and 2011.

"We are thrilled to be making many more episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures," CBBC controller Damian Kavanagh said. "It has been a huge ratings and critical success on CBBC and we hope our viewers are going to be hooked on Sarah Jane's action-packed adventures for some time to come."

BBC Wales Head of English Language Programmes, Clare Hudson, added: "The idea for The Sarah Jane Adventures sprang from the success of Doctor Who and it has since rocketed in popularity in its own right, thanks to the vision, talent and hard work of the show's brilliant cast and crew."

New adversaries include the Nightmare Man and the Shansheeth, with returning writers including Phil Ford, Joseph Lidster, Rupert Laight, Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman.