The latest Doctor Who regeneration for the upcoming 60th Anniversary Special may share similarities to the previous one, but showrunner Russel T Davies confirms the new one is “slightly more human.”
In an interview with Digital Spy, Davies explained the differences between the Fourteenth and the Tenth Doctor, which David Tennant played in the 2005 Doctor Who series and the upcoming Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special.
Making his return to the Tardis as the Fourteenth Doctor, the showrunner says that — contrary to the last one — Tennant’s new Doctor Who incarnation will be “slightly more human,” adding, “I didn’t even go and watch an old episode on iPlayer because they never quite go really… those big characters don’t go from your head. They keep on ticking away.”
Davies also referred to Catherine Tate, who will return for the upcoming specials. The show will air on November 25 on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the U.K., and the rest of the world can stream it through Disney+.
Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor
After Tennant’s Doctor Who specials, Sex Education’s Ncuti Gatwa will debut as the Fifteenth Doctor — the first Black and openly queer Doctor in the entire Doctor Who franchise — in the upcoming fourteenth season of the long-running series, set to premiere on Disney+ on December 25.
On the franchise’s impact on audiences and the rest of the show’s cast and crew, Davies also told Digital Spy: “There’s an extraordinary thing with Doctor Who, which is with the crew and a lot of the cast, their children watch it.”
He continued, “It gets passed on down generations and I love that and I think the crew are very much aware that they’re part of a history that their kids will be watching or their kids’ kids will be watching, and that creates a really lovely atmosphere on set.”
Though plot details remain up in the air, the titles for the upcoming three-episode specials were already revealed, debuting with “The Star Beast” episode. The rest of the episodes are titled “Blue Yonder” and “The Giggle.”
Joining Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and Tate’s Donna Noble are Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble, Karl Collins as Shaun Temple, Ruth Madeley as Shirley Ann Bingham, Yasmin Finney as Rose, and Neil Patrick Harris as the villainous Toymaker.
