Before Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa takes on the reigns as the next Doctor Who, David Tennant will reprise his role for a series of special episodes to mark the series’ 60th anniversary.
Tennant, 52, will return as the 14th Doctor with Catherine Tate reprising her role as his companion, Donna Noble.
On Wednesday (25 October), Disney Branded Television and BBC revealed the trailer and premiere dates for the three special episodes.
The first special, “The Star Beast,” premieres 25 November; “Wild Blue Yonder” comes out 2 December; “The Giggle” will premiere on 9 December.
The specials will air on BBC One in the UK and on Disney+ elsewhere.
According to the logline, the anniversaries “will reunite the 14th Doctor (Tennant) and Donna Temple-Noble (Tate) as they come face-to-face with their most terrifying villain yet: the Toymaker (played by Neil Patrick Harris in his ‘Doctor Who’ debut).”
Doctor Who unveils David Tennant specials trailer and release dates— (BBC)
Other cast members include Yasmin Finney as Rose Temple-Noble, Miriam Margolyes as the voice of the Meep and Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne Bingham, in addition to returning performers like Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble, Karl Collins as Shaun Temple and Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.
Tennant originally played the Time Lord between 2005 and 2010 and is regarded by many as the best Doctor of all time.
In a recent interview, the actor shared the simple reason he decided to revisit the show. “The real answer is that I still love it,” Tennant said. “You do spend your years away from Doctor Who, always watching it. Always thinking of ideas. Thinking about how I would expand it, thinking of stories... It never goes away.”
In Jodie Whittaker’s final episode as the Thirteenth Doctor, which aired in October 2022, the Time Lord didn’t regenerate into Gatwa as expected. Rather, the Doctor turned back into Tennant, who looked confused and repeatedly asked: “What?”
Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor will be joined by RuPaul’s Drag Race star Jinkx Monsoon in the next series, along with Jonathan Groff.
Gatwa’s first episode as the 15th Doctor will air over the 2023 Christmas period, followed by the rest of the season airing in 2024.
