Long running British sci-fi series Doctor Who will return to our television screens next month when the first of three specials celebrating the show’s 60th anniversary air.
The Star Beast, the first of three specials will air on 26th November, followed by Wild Blue Yonder on 3rd December and The Giggle on 10th December.
The three upcoming specials see David Tennent returning to the title role of The Doctor alongside companion Donna Noble played by Catherine Tate. Mirriam Margolyes will guest star in the first episode providing the voice to alien Beep the Meep.
Heartstopper actor Yasmin Feeney will play Donna’s daughter, while Neil Patrick Harris is also in the upcoming episodes, he’s tipped to play The Celestial Toymaker, a character not seen in the show since the 1960s.
The shows longevity is partly due to a clever tactic the writers came up with when William Hartnell, the original actor who played The Doctor, was unable to continue in the role. In 1966 the role was taken over by Patrick Troughton, and it was revealed the character had a magical alien ability to regenerate into a new body and personality.
Over the decades many actors have spent time playing The Doctor. In 2017 Jodie Whittaker became the first woman to take on the role, and Jo Martin later was the first woman of colour to play the part. The next actor to take over the role in Sex Education actor Ncuti Gatwa.
Fans got a surprise at the end of Whittaker’s run in the role when instead of morphing into Gatwa, the character returned to the form of David Tennent who played the role from 2005 until 2010, before making a brief return for the show’s 50th anniversary.
Fans will be tuning in to find out why the switcheroo has occurred. Gatwa has already filed his first series of the show, and filming has commenced on a second series too.
Another big change for the series is it’ll be moving homes. After airing on the ABC for decades, the anniversary specials and new series will screen on subscription streamer Disney+.
OIP Staff
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