The BBC has confirmed that David Tennant and Catherine Tate will return to Doctor Who for the show’s 60th-anniversary festivities.
The pair reconnected after 12 years to film sequences that will premiere next year.
Tennant, 51, initially entered the Tardis as the 10th Time Lord in 2005, with his farewell episode showing on New Year’s Day in 2010. Tate, 52, played his partner Donna Noble in the film.
When the Doctor needed to erase Donna’s memories to preserve her life, the Doctor and Donna parted ways. He warned her family that if she remembered the past, she would die because the talents she held threatened to overwhelm her brain.
“They’re back!” declared Russell T Davies, its returning showrunner. And it appears to be impossible — we unveil a new Doctor, then an old Doctor, coupled with the delightful Donna. What on earth is going on?
“Maybe this is a missing story. Or a parallel world. Or a dream, or a trick, or a flashback. The only thing I can confirm is that it’s going to be spectacular, as two of our greatest stars reunite for the battle of a lifetime.”
Tennant took up the role of the protagonist from Christopher Eccleston in 2005 and was replaced by Matt Smith. In 2013, the Scottish actor reappeared for a cameo in the 50th-anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor.
Tennant, like his predecessors, has continued to perform the part in many spin-off audio albums. He was elected the fans’ favorite Doctor in 2020.
Tennant and Tate have worked together on projects other than Doctor Who. In 2011, the two collaborated on a theatre adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, and Tenant made a guest appearance on The Catherine Tate Show.
Doctor Who will return to BBC One later this year with a 90-minute special episode commemorating the BBC’s centennial, Jodie Whittaker’s final appearance as the 13th Doctor.
Ncuti Gatwa, 29, will succeed Whittaker as the fourth person of Scottish ancestry to hold the position, following Sylvester McCoy, fellow Royal Conservatoire graduate Tennant, and Peter Capaldi.
Chris Chibnall, who cast Whittaker as the show’s first female protagonist, is departing to be replaced by Davies, who oversaw the show’s 2005 revamp and departed in 2009.
