Jodie Whittaker’s time as the Doctor is officially over. Now the baton has passed to the Fourteenth Doctor, who will be played by none other than fan favorite David Tennant.
With Ncuti Gatwa also lined up to get the keys to the TARDIS, many wonder how this familiar face came back. We’ve scoured the internet for clues as to what’s going on.
If you want to know more about the return of Doctor Who – and what it will be about – then keep reading.
When will the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials air?
The BBC has confirmed that Doctor Who will be back for three specials with David Tennant in November 2023, with exact dates to be confirmed. Typically, Doctor Who airs on Sundays.
These episodes will also celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who.
After that, the show will return for a special in December 2023, with Ncuti Gatwa officially taking over as the next Doctor and preparing for his next full series (Series 14). Filming began for this in December 2022.
Davies confirmed it would be a Christmas episode – a tradition that was dropped when Jodie took over. There will also be another Christmas special in 2024.
Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Promotions Trailer
The latest trailer shows how Donna and her family will react to the return of the Doctor and gives us a look at the Specials’ villain:
Who is in the cast of the next Doctor Who Specials?
Now that Jodie Whittaker and former showrunner Chris Chibnall are gone, all eyes are on their successors.
David Tennant is officially the 14th Doctor, and he’ll be joined by Catherine Tate as Donna Noble.
Yasmin Finney as Rose, who is believed to be Donna’s daughter, will also join the specials. Fans also spotted Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott (Donna’s grandfather) on set – Bernard has sadly since passed away.
The Doctor and Donna will face Neil Patrick Harris. We don’t know who he will be playing against, but he has been described as the “greatest enemy ever faced”. Fans online are speculating that he could be the Celestial Toymaker or another regeneration of the master.
Other rumors indicate that in the anniversary specials, we might see other past faces, including Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, and even Chris Eccleston. However, none of this is confirmed by the BBC.
Russell T Davies has been confirmed to return as the series lead just in time for the show’s 60th anniversary. The showrunner originally brought back new Who with Chris Eccleston in the lead role until 2009, then also helmed the series with David Tennant as the Doctor. Bad Wolf will also executive produce the series when Davies takes over.
Who is the Fifteenth Doctor and who are the companions?
After David Tennant, the Fifteenth Doctor will be Dear friend. He is best known for his role as Eric Effiong in the hit Netflix series, Sex Education. He goes down in history as the first black male doctor.
On the new role, Ncuti said, “There aren’t quite the words to describe how I feel. A mix of deeply honoured, more than excited and of course a bit scared.
“This role and this show means so much to so many people around the world, myself included, and each of my incredibly talented predecessors handled this unique responsibility and privilege with the utmost care. I will do my best to do the same.
He will be joined by new companion, Ruby Sunday, who will be played by Millie Gibson of Coronation Street. Here’s a look at the pair in costume:
What is the plot of the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials?
Here is the first official synopsis of the upcoming Doctor Who Specials:
The Doctor and Donna separated when the Doctor had to erase Donna’s memory, causing her to forget, in order to save her life. He left his family with a warning: if she ever remembers, she will die. But with the two face to face once again, the big question is, what brings the Doctor and Donna together?
The BBC has confirmed that Tennant is not the Tenth Doctor, he is the 14th. So it’s not “degeneracy,” as many suspected (or, that’s what the showrunners want us to believe).
However, David’s clothes changed in the process – a departure from previous regenerations. Therefore, fans are wondering if this regeneration was tampered with by the villain of the Specials – or if it’s some kind of elaborate dream sequence.
Showrunner Davies gave the following quote on the Specials: “If you thought David Tennant’s appearance was a shock, we’ve got plenty more surprises on the way!
“Ncuti’s path to the Fifteenth Doctor is fraught with mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun! And how does it tie into the return of the wonderful Donna Noble? How, what, why? We give you a year to speculate, and then everything is fine!
The Fifteenth Doctor was briefly shown in the Anniversary Specials trailer, and he looked rather confused and angry. However, he is dressed in what appears to be Tennant’s clothes, seemingly further confirming that Ncuti will regenerate from David.
While you wait for the specials, you can always catch up on older episodes. The BBC has added every episode of the show since 2005 to the iPlayer streaming service. That means you get every episode of every Doctor from Christopher Eccleston to Jodie Whittaker, without paying a dime.
If you want to go even further, the classic show is now entirely on BritBox – but it’s worth noting that you’ll have to pay to subscribe.
How can you watch Doctor Who in the US?
Obviously Doctor Who is a British show, but in recent years BBC America has done a better job of airing the show as close to the UK air date as possible, to minimize piracy.
If you prefer watching BBC episodes (or re-watching older episodes), you can use a VPN to stream episodes on iPlayer as if you were in the UK. Keep in mind that this is a violation of iPlayer’s terms of service since you won’t pay the license fee, but it will allow you to watch every episode of the show since 2005.
As of this writing, Warner Bros. holds exclusive US streaming rights to the series for HBO Max, so that’s where you’ll need to go to watch all of Doctor Who from 2005 onwards.
However, starting next year, Disney+ will air new episodes in the United States. This was revealed alongside the show’s new logo. It has also been confirmed that the upcoming new episodes will not air on BBC America.
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