Mustafa Moumouni October 26th, 2022 - 3:48 PM
For its 60th anniversary, Doctor Who brings back the familiar face of David Tennant (Fright Night, Jessica Jones) as its Fourteenth Doctor. Tennant replaces Jodie Whittaker (Attack the Block, Venus) who plays the Thirteenth Doctor.
“If you thought the appearance of David Tennant was a shock, we’ve got plenty more surprises on the way!” Russell T. Davies (Torchwood, It’s a Sin), returning showrunner, said in a statement on DoctorWho.TV. “The path to Ncuti’s Fifteenth Doctor is laden with mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun! And how is it connected to the return of the wonderful Donna Noble? How, what, why? We’re giving you a year to speculate, and then all hell lets loose!”
Tennant played the Tenth Doctor on BBC’s Doctor Who between 2005 and 2010 for three seasons and nine specials. Tennant also repeated his role as the Doctor in the 50th anniversary, collaborating with the then-Doctor, played by Matt Smith (Morbius, Last Night in Soho) in 2013.
Tennant brings along one of his former tagalongs, Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate (The Catherine Tate Show, Love and Other Disasters). When Tennant and Tate’s characters were last seen together Tennant’s iteration of the Doctor wiped Donna’s memory in order to save her life and left her family with the important message: If she remembers anything about their escapades together, she will perish.
In the teaser, BBC shows the first glimpse of the upcoming Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education, The Last Letter From Your Lover), and a voiceover of Tennant saying, “I don’t know who I am anymore,” as well as a brief sighting of Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, A Series of Unfortunate Events), who will be co-starring as “the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced,” according to TV Line.
BBC’s Doctor Who’s Twitter page posted a spoiler tweet of the regeneration of the Thirteenth Doctor.
SPOILERS 🚨 Watch the regeneration of the Thirteenth Doctor… 🔥 #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/7m4WzWow0q
— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) October 23, 2022
Tennant and Tate will appear in a three-episode special that are set to air in November 2023, according to Deadline. Gatwa will take control of the TARDIS and franchise, in his first debut airing in 2023.
According to the Huffington Post, the current showrunner, Chris Chibnall (Broadchurch, The Great Train Robbery) said on Whittaker’s finale, “She changed the game. She changed history in terms of Doctor Who. I think what she’s brought is a Doctor Who full of hope, and positivity and generosity and I think that these times really needed that.
“I think she’s shown off her incredible sort of clowning side, the humour that she can do, which maybe some people didn’t know her for beforehand. I think she’s enriched the character of the Doctor, as all actors who play the Doctor do, but it’s an incredibly bold and brave performance.
“And she took responsibility for the Doctor being a woman, she took it on her shoulders and represented and that was not a given, that was her strength and decision and power. I think she has been utterly magnificent, she exceeded all of our expectations.”
In Whittaker’s finale, she faced the triple threat of the Cybermen, the Master and the Daleks. Whittaker’s finale episode also saw a return of former actors who played Time Lords from the ages , including Paul McGann (Queen of the Damned, Alien 3), Peter Davison (The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot, Doctor Who), Sylvester McCoy (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Doctor Who), and Colin Baker (The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, Doctor Who: Dimensions in Time).
Doctor Who will make its return to BBC One in 2023. The premiere date and time has not yet been disclosed.
