David Tennant has denied that he’s the next Doctor, despite being seen filming for Doctor Who alongside Catherine Tate (who returns as Donna Noble).

But the actor, who played the Tenth Doctor, remains enigmatic about the 60th anniversary celebrations. He said:

“Ncuti Gatwa will be the next Doctor Who and that’s about as much as I am prepared to say.”

Speculation persists that Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor will regenerate into Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor at the conclusion of The Power of the Doctor, but now, we’re very confused. Tennant, of course, might just be backing up Gatwa, trying not to let his own return overshadow the new TARDIS incumbent. Or he might be saying Ncuti is the next Doctor because Ncuti is the next Doctor.

But then what does the 60th anniversary involve? We doubt that it’s an elaborate flashback, seeing as Yasmin Finney is playing a character called Rose who is seemingly Donna’s daughter. So these events can’t happen in the show’s past, right? So how does Donna get her memories back of the Doctor without her brain imploding?

New showrunner, Russell T Davies previously teased:

“A mysteriously forgotten excursion for the TARDIS in between Planet of the Ood and Sontaran Strategem? Or maybe a multiverse thing, they’re all the rage these days. Maybe this is the Doctor and Donna from Universe 557, all set to collide with our own. Then again, maybe, just maybe, this return is so impossible that it’s actually an intricate illusion created by an old enemy of the Doctor’s.”

So presumably the answer is: none of those.

Might this be an alternate universe? Might this be a fake, created by the Celestial Toymaker, rumoured to be returning, as played by Neil Patrick Harris? Or… what?!

We don’t know. But we’ll find out pretty soon…