So, this really is the future! It's no longer a secret that David Tennant has returned as the Fourteenth Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa will follow on as the Fifteenth incarnation.
So how has this happened? Have we travelled back in time to 2005? Well, it certainly feels that way, but here's everything we know about what's to come in 2023.
When's the next episode of Doctor Who?
The Doctor will land back on our screens in November 2023 to celebrate the show's 60th Anniversary. Three specials, each 60 minutes in length, will air during the month, all featuring the Fourteenth Doctor, played by David Tennant, alongside returning companion Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, as well as a few other familiar and new faces. Russell T Davies has also teased mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun!
So how has this happened? Have we travelled back in time to 2005? Well, it certainly feels that way, but here's everything we know about what's to come in 2023.
When's the next episode of Doctor Who?
The Doctor will land back on our screens in November 2023 to celebrate the show's 60th Anniversary. Three specials, each 60 minutes in length, will air during the month, all featuring the Fourteenth Doctor, played by David Tennant, alongside returning companion Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, as well as a few other familiar and new faces. Russell T Davies has also teased mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun!
How are David Tennant and Catherine Tate back again?
It all started during the 2020 tweet-along of 'The Runaway Bride', where fans joined with Tennant, Tate and Davies to rewatch the 2006 Christmas Special. Afterwards, Catherine texted Russell admitting how much she enjoyed it, with Russell responding: "God, let's get David to do some more Doctor and Donna, I loved it so much!"
Tate replied, having already spoken to Tennant, claiming "Let's do it! The Doctor and Donna - The Lost Adventures! David said he'd do it again in a heartbeat! Who do we need to speak to? Come on, let's get the old band back together!"
Speaking in Doctor Who Magazine 584, Davies has admitted he felt a sense of duty to let the BBC know about Tennant and Tate's eagerness to return, and so he contacted Piers Wenger, the Director of Drama to share the news. And the rest is history - or is it the future?
Davies has also reiterated that David Tennant is "Unashamedly the Fourteenth," also stating: "I know how fandom works. A lot of people will be thinking, David's not the real Doctor, he's a trick, an illusion, a flashback. But no. He's real."
Tate replied, having already spoken to Tennant, claiming "Let's do it! The Doctor and Donna - The Lost Adventures! David said he'd do it again in a heartbeat! Who do we need to speak to? Come on, let's get the old band back together!"
Speaking in Doctor Who Magazine 584, Davies has admitted he felt a sense of duty to let the BBC know about Tennant and Tate's eagerness to return, and so he contacted Piers Wenger, the Director of Drama to share the news. And the rest is history - or is it the future?
Davies has also reiterated that David Tennant is "Unashamedly the Fourteenth," also stating: "I know how fandom works. A lot of people will be thinking, David's not the real Doctor, he's a trick, an illusion, a flashback. But no. He's real."
Why did the Doctor's clothes change during the regeneration from Jodie Whittaker to David Tennant?
As far as the storyline is concerned, there is no clear explanation as to why the Fourteenth Doctor didn't end up wearing the Thirteenth Doctor's clothes, as per the usual outcome. However, Russell T Davies has revealed the reason he took the decision to make the clothing change.
"I was very certain that I didn't want David to appear in Jodie's costume," he explains in DWM 584. "I think the notion of men dressing in 'women’s clothes', the notion of drag, is very delicate. I'm a huge fan of that culture and the dignity of that, it's truly a valuable thing. But it has to be done with immense thought and respect.”
Davies adds: "With respect to Jodie and her Doctor, I think it can look like mockery when a straight man wears her clothes. To put a great big six-foot Scotsman into them looks like we're taking the mickey. Also, I guarantee you it's the only photograph some of the papers would print for the rest of time. If they can play with gender in a sarcastic or critical way, they will."
"We could have the Doctor dressed as a knight, or dressed as God, or dressed as William Hartnell, and the only photo they'd print would be of David in what they considered to be women's clothes. Then it becomes weaponised - as a mockery of feminine traits, a mockery of drag, of that culture. So that was never going to happen. Knowing that David was coming in, I was absolutely certain that the clothes would regenerate. Nothing would've changed my mind."
"I was very certain that I didn't want David to appear in Jodie's costume," he explains in DWM 584. "I think the notion of men dressing in 'women’s clothes', the notion of drag, is very delicate. I'm a huge fan of that culture and the dignity of that, it's truly a valuable thing. But it has to be done with immense thought and respect.”
Davies adds: "With respect to Jodie and her Doctor, I think it can look like mockery when a straight man wears her clothes. To put a great big six-foot Scotsman into them looks like we're taking the mickey. Also, I guarantee you it's the only photograph some of the papers would print for the rest of time. If they can play with gender in a sarcastic or critical way, they will."
"We could have the Doctor dressed as a knight, or dressed as God, or dressed as William Hartnell, and the only photo they'd print would be of David in what they considered to be women's clothes. Then it becomes weaponised - as a mockery of feminine traits, a mockery of drag, of that culture. So that was never going to happen. Knowing that David was coming in, I was absolutely certain that the clothes would regenerate. Nothing would've changed my mind."
When does Ncuti Gatwa start as the Fifteenth Doctor?
Gatwa will take over the TARDIS during the festive period of 2023, in a fourth special for next year, following David Tennant's three 60th Anniversary episodes. He will then continue as the new Doctor for Series 14, which is expected to air sometime in 2024 and will contain 10 episodes. The series is due to begin filming in January 2023.
The only teaser we've had for the new series is, again, from Russell T Davies speaking in Doctor Who Magazine 584, who has confirmed he's finished writing the first six episodes and, at the time of speaking to DWM, was busy writing episode 7, which starts in a Coffee Bar in the USA in the year 1947.
Who is the Fifteenth Doctor's new companion?
Another extract from DWM 584 reveals that a new companion has indeed been cast, with secret auditions taking place on 24th September 2022.
Gatwa was present himself during the auditions, with producer Ellen Marsh teasing that she believes the new companion is "one for the ages."
The only teaser we've had for the new series is, again, from Russell T Davies speaking in Doctor Who Magazine 584, who has confirmed he's finished writing the first six episodes and, at the time of speaking to DWM, was busy writing episode 7, which starts in a Coffee Bar in the USA in the year 1947.
Who is the Fifteenth Doctor's new companion?
Another extract from DWM 584 reveals that a new companion has indeed been cast, with secret auditions taking place on 24th September 2022.
Gatwa was present himself during the auditions, with producer Ellen Marsh teasing that she believes the new companion is "one for the ages."
Doctor Who Magazine 584
You can read lots more details about the future of Doctor Who in the latest edition of Doctor Who Magazine (584), which is out now and available at panini.co.uk, WHSmith and supermarkets.
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