The Conversation (0)
Liam O'Dell
Nov 25, 2023
Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials trailer
Disney+
More than a year after we said goodbye to Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker and welcomed David Tennant’s reappearance in The Power of the Doctor, fans of the beloved BBC science fiction series don’t have to wait much longer to see the first of three 60th anniversary specials penned by returning showrunner Russell T Davies.
Titled “The Star Beast”, “Wild Blue Yonder” and “The Giggle”, the specials are set to see Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor (he also played the Tenth from 2005 to 2010) bump into Neil Patrick Harris as The Celestial Toymaker, Beep the Meep voiced by Miriam Margolyes, and Ruth Madeley as the Doctor’s friend Shirley Anne Bingham.
Though perhaps more importantly, the three specials mark a comeback for Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble, who we last saw in “The End of Time” after having her mind wiped to save her life.
That’s because back in the Series 4 finale in 2008, “Journey’s End”, Donna touched the severed hand of Tennant’s Doctor while the Tardis was at risk of being destroyed, creating a clone of the alien time traveller which saved them both, but also meant Donna “took the mind of a Time Lord into her head” – which was very bad and could only be resolved by Donna having all memory of her time with the Doctor erased.
That came with the warning to Donna’s mum Sylvia (Jacqueline King) and grandpa Wilf (the late Bernard Cribbins) that if she were to ever remember her adventures in the Tardis, she would die.
And so, there’s quite the predicament for the Doctor that he’s regenerated back into the face of David Tennant and, according to one teaser clip on social media, a spaceship “crashes right in front of her”.
Now Doctor Who fans are excited by the possibility that we may finally have a better ending for Donna after the tragedy of having her mind wiped, in addition to all the other reveals teased in the run-up (such as a completely new Tardis interior):
Another element of the first special is a cuddly alien named Beep the Meep, who makes a move over to the silver screen after previously appearing in Doctor Who comics, and has already generated a few memes and reactions online:
Not only that, but with Davies back at the helm, a behind-the-scenes series giving fans an insight into how the show is made has come back to BBC Three.
Previously known as Doctor Who: Confidential, the new version for the specials and beyond is called Doctor Who: Unleashed, and one fan has proclaimed that “nature is restored”:
Although, with Tennant only involved in these three specials before handing over the reins to Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, Whovians are already bracing themselves for another emotional send-off from his Doctor as he’s due a second regeneration:
It's not the first time we'll see the new Fourteenth Doctor in action, though, as a short minisode for Children in Need was released earlier this month, and saw the return of an iconic villain which received a mixed reaction from fans.
However, it remains unclear as to whether there is indeed any truth to fan speculation that Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor will make a surprise appearance, and indeed any other rumours circling online.
Fans will have to tune in to BBC One at 6:30pm (GMT) this evening to find out this and more.
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.