Doctor Who's David Tennant said that his and Catherine Tate's return to the series came about almost by accident.
"It all slightly happened a little bit by accident," Tennant said in an interview with BBC News. At the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, he, Tate and former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies took part in Doctor Who: Lockdown!, a series wherein they would rewatch episodes of the long-running sci-fi series as a way to pass the time.
"That's where this all started," Tennant said. "At a certain time and day everyone would press play on a certain episode and some of the people who had been involved in those episodes were tweeting along." The three briefly discussed returning to Doctor Who at the time but, as Tennant said, "it all went quiet." However, when Davies was named the new showrunner for the upcoming season of Doctor Who, the conversation began again.
"Suddenly Russell let us know that he was taking over the show again and he would be back fully in charge and would we come and play a little bit for him?" the actor said. "So I don't know if we gave him the idea to take Doctor Who back but certainly we thought if he's doing it, we can't let these young people have all the fun."
Donna and Ten Return to Doctor Who
It was revealed in May that Tennant and Tate would return to Doctor Who for the franchise's 60th anniversary, both reprising their respective roles as the Tenth Doctor and fan-favorite companion Donna Noble in 2023. The two actors are currently filming scenes for their return, though the nature of their return is currently unknown. Both Tennant and Tate made their final appearances in Doctor Who in the two-part 2010 Christmas special, "The End of Time," which saw the Tenth Doctor erase all of Donna's memories of him as a way to save her life.
Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa will take over as The Doctor for Season 14, a role held by Jodie Whittaker since 2017. As a new Doctor enters the TARDIS, Davies, who was credited with reviving BBC's cult, sci-fi drama in 2005, will be taking over as showrunner from Chris Chibnall for the fourteenth season. Davies served as showrunner until Steven Moffat took the reigns in 2009.
Whittaker premiered as the 13th Doctor, and the first woman to play the role, in 2018. She and Chibnall, who also joined the series in 2018, announced in July 2021 that they would both hand over the keys to the TARDIS with a trio of specials airing in fall 2022. The Doctor Who Centenary Special, titled "The Power of the Doctor," will mark the end of Whittaker's run as the titular hero and her Regeneration, while introducing Gatwa, who will be the first gay Doctor.
Doctor Who's "The Power of the Doctor" will premiere sometime in October.
Source: BBC News