There’s absolutely no reason for me to explain to you about how author Neil Gaiman is a great writer. His accolades are too numerous to count in one little news blurb. But lets say this: Gaiman is one of the most iconic and prolific science fiction and fantasy writers of the modern era. Also prolific is the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who, for which Gaiman will be writing an upcoming episode.

Now on its eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith, and its 30th or so season, the popular series has been chugging along since the early 1960s. It is as long-running and popular as anything that has ever been seen on television, in an country. I’ve personally just gotten into the show, starting with the ninth Doctor and working my way up to the exit of Doctor number ten, David Tennant (who was spectacular at every turn).

For the 2010 season, new showrunner Steven Moffat has taken over and he’s brought on a new Doctor, played by Matt Smith. Episodes have already begun airing in the UK on the BBC, and will eventually make their way across the pond to those of us who are addicted to the show. As for Gaiman, he will be writing an episode for Moffat and Smith’s second season, which is due in 2011.

“As anyone who’s read my blog knows, I’m a big fan of a certain long-running British SF TV series,” Gaiman told SFX Weekender (via Airlock Alpha). “One that [I] started watching — from behind the sofa — when I was three. And while I know it’s cruel to make you wait for things, in about 14 months from now — which is to say not the upcoming season, but early in the one after that — it’s quite possible that I might have written an episode. And if I had, it would originally have been called, ‘The House of Nothing,’ but it definitely isn’t called that any more.”

Whatever the episode is called, you can bet that we should all be looking forward to it. When the author of The Sandman, Coraline and Stardust combines his powers with those of everyone’s favorite dimension-traveling Time Lord, you can bet that people will take notice. I for one, will be anxiously awaiting a chance to catch it.

Do you watch Doctor Who? Are you also excited that Neil Gaiman is writing an episode for the 2011 series?