EXTERMINATE! Exterminate! The little boy was talking in a tinny voice more Smash Robot than Dalek, but it was obvious where he was coming from.

He fell on the floor, exterminated, until his sister asked if she could be "the doctor".

"Of course not," he shouted. "You'll have to be the assistant."

Dr Who may be 40 this year and his last adventure may have been seven years ago but, thanks to endless repeats on television, the Time Lord is as popular as ever.

Scores of fans materialised at the Swallow Hotel, in Stockton, Teesside, this weekend to wish him happy birthday.

Whovians, the Dr Who equivalent of Trekkies, gathered from across the country to meet their idols, including former doctor Sylvester McCoy and assistants Sophie Aldred and Nicola Bryant.

Hundreds of people milled around the lounge, with stalls and stands offering books and comics for sale. Inside another room lay a merchandise enthusiast's dream.

There were pictures and images of all the seven doctors, with every sort of knick-knack you can imagine.

There are not enough events like this in the North-East, according to Whovian Gordon Muir, 42, a welder from Norton, Middlesbrough.

He said: "It is a bit of a wilderness for things like this up here. You get to meet people who have got the same interests as you and you have a laugh with the people who come in the costumes."

Mr Muir spent about £100 on merchandise but this is a drop in the ocean when he describes his spare bedroom, which is dedicated to Dr Who.

He has more than 80 Dalek models, five tardises, signed pictures and badges, more than 350 videos, all the comics from 1979, many annuals, four shelves of books, a Silurian mask. Not forgetting the 4ft Dalek in the corner.

Rumours of a Dr Who comeback have been growing recently, with hints that the BBC may be about to bring the doctor back.

Mr Muir said: "We all live in hope that, some day, it will be back on our screens."