Familiar faces are coming back to the TARDIS, as Doctor Who arrives at a major point in its history. The BBC has released a new trailer for the 60th Anniversary Specials of the series during today's Eurovision coverage. The chapters will see the return of David Tennant in the role that launched him into stardom, and he won't be coming back alone. Catherine Tate, who played of the Tenth Doctor's most memorable companions, Donna Noble, will also be returning to the thrilling time-traveling adventures. The pair is set to be a part of this universe for the first time in almost fifteen years.
In the trailer, the title for the upcoming special episodes were revealed, with the first chapter receiving the name of "The Star Beast". It will be followed by "Wild Blue Yonder" and the story arc will be concluded in "The Giggle". The 60th Anniversary of the acclaimed show is set to be something memorable, as the studio always tries to mark the occasion with major plot developments for the overall narrative of everyone's favorite Time Lord. In 2013, the 50th Anniversary Special, titled "The Day of the Doctor", marked the first time Tennant returned to the franchise after his original run. Billie Piper was featured once again in the role of the Bad Wolf in that episode, after playing Rose Tyler over the course of the first seasons of the reboot.
Doctor Who is in the middle of a transition period, with Ncuti Gatwa in the process of taking the over the role after Jodie Whittaker's departure from the series. Gatwa is set to bring his own cast of secondary characters, as most Doctors do, and will be featured as one of the youngest iterations of the Time Lord to date, at only thirty years old. For comparison, Matt Smith was around the same age when he received his sonic screwdriver and began his run as the Doctor. There's a wide range of possibilities when a new performer becomes the lead of the show, and Gatwa's vibrant energy will guide the series into the future.
The Doctor Was Given a "Second" Chance to Live
The in-universe reason as to why different actors can play the Doctor after a couple of years is because the Time Lords can regenerate their body after they die. When they are born, the Time Lords have a limited amount of times they can do this, meaning they can have twelve different faces before they finally passed away. However, during the 50th Anniversary Special, the Time Lords granted the Doctor a second regeneration cycle, allowing Peter Capaldi to begin his run. It remains to be seen why the Doctor regenerated into Tennant's familiar face before moving on to Gatwa, as the character takes on yet another mystery.
You can check out the official trailer for the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials below, before the show returns this November: