Doctor Who's David Tennant and Catherine Tate to reunite for 60th anniversary
As David Tennant and Catherine Tate are reunited on screen in Doctor Who, fans will also be treated to a redesigned TARDIS in the specials to mark the show’s 60th anniversary.
Showrunner Russell T Davies has told how he got the pair, who played the 10th Doctor and his assistant Donna Noble, to agree a return BEFORE he was approached to stage a comeback himself.
“I just love David and Catherine together, actually,” he declared. “And I love that TARDIS. David loved that set so much he thought it'd be absolutely brilliant to run around it like that. After eight takes, not quite so fun. He was worn out by the end.”
Speaking at a screening of the first of the three specials, which airs on November 25, he said it was Tate who'd told him she’d like to bring Donna out of retirement, after taking part in a ‘tweetalong’ event during the pandemic.
As David Tennant and Catherine Tate are reunited on screen in Doctor Who, fans will also be treated to a redesigned TARDIS in the specials to mark the show’s 60th anniversary (PA)“Catherine said, ‘Oh, I've always loved Donna Noble and wouldn't it be marvellous to make some more?’ And I went, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, yeah,’ like that. And then she asked David. She said, ‘Would you make some more?" And he said he would, in a heartbeat. So then she told me that and I genuinely felt honour-bound to go to the BBC and say, ‘Look, these two stars have just said they would love to come back.’ I knew it was the 60th anniversary coming up. Simple as that.
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‘So I just sent off that email about Christmas Eve or something - best Christmas present you ever had!” He said that former drama boss Piers Wenger had sent back a measured response. “All I got was a reply saying, ‘Thank you. We'll think about it.’
The story for the opening episode, The Star Beast, is reworked from a 1970s comic strip about Beep the Meep - voiced by Miriam Margolyes - coming to Earth. “It's an old conversation from 1979 that I always loved,” Russell said, explaining that he needed two stories at once. “You've got Donna getting her memory back, so you need that, which kind of takes a whole episode, and you need an alien invasion at the same time.”
In the audience, original artist Dave Gibbons said he was “very happy” with the way his original story, which also features the Wrarth Warriors, had been translated for the 21st century.
David and Catherine will be reunited on screens (BBC)“It’s such a classic strip - a lonely alien lands and a child befriends the alien and tries to help the alien. And that's from 1979 - two years before ET,” Russell said. “So ET ripped that story off, frankly.”
The episode also features trans actor Yasmin Finney as Donna’s daughter Rose, Karl Collins as her husband Shaun and Jaqueline King as her mother Sylvia - who is not at all thrilled to see that the Doctor has returned.
Russell, 60, said that joining forces with Disney to create a huge new budget for the show had been a “joy”. “It's not a Star Wars budget,” he laughed. “Nonetheless, it's more than most things I've made for the past 10 years added together. So learning how to do that has been a year-long process. But it was done with so much joy.”
The writer and TV executive said the reason why Tennant, the 10th Doctor, has returned as the 14th Doctor will be revealed in the last of the three specials to mark the 60th anniversary. "The mystery of his face does continue over the next two specials. It's not a huge plot, but it has a nice payoff, actually. So keep tuning in.”
In terms of monsters, he said viewers would have to wait a while before classic foes the Daleks and the Cybermen turn up.
Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special will air later this month (Alistair Heap/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios)“I do think we've had a lot of Daleks lately,” he explained, adding that all of his predecessor Chris Chibnall’s festive specials had included them. “I think they've been done a lot - people are expecting them every year now. So I think they need a good pause. Hopefully, there's some enemies that will become new classics, but it's always good to move on.”
Teasing the second special, Wild Blue Yonder, he said: “It’s where the TARDIS goes further than ever before. And it's weird - it’s kind of scary.”
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On the third, The Giggle, he said: “It is Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, who was an old enemy from the 1960s. That one's wild. That one's nuts. It's a completely mad adventure.”
He said the 15th Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa, will make his full debut on Christmas Day.
Russell laughed: “I do own Christmas because I wrote a show for ITV - Nolly - and they're showing that on Christmas Day as well.” He also revealed that Derry Girls and Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan will guest star in next year’s festive special.
Doctor Who: The Star Beast, BBC1, November 25th
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