She produced dramas including Me and Mrs. Jones and an updated version of Othello written by Andrew Davies and starring Eamonn Walker and Christopher Eccleston (in the Iago role).

Gardner immediately contacted Davies (who had previously expressed an interest in writing and producing Doctor Who) and began working with him on bringing the programme back to British screens.

Gardner was the BBC's representative in the production of the political romantic comedy The Girl in the Café (2005), written by Richard Curtis in conjunction with the Make Poverty History campaign.

"[5] In March 2009, it was announced that Gardner was to join the staff of Los Angeles-based BBC Worldwide America, as executive producer in charge of scripted projects.

[6] It was announced in late 2009 that Gardner was five months pregnant and her first child, Huckleberry, fathered by Doctor Who sound recordist Julian Howarth, was born in early summer 2010.