David Tennant, who plays the Fourteenth Doctor in the upcoming 60th anniversary specials, has said that these three episodes are “Russell [T Davies, showrunner] off the leash.”
And while we don’t know much about the middle episode, Wild Blue Yonder, Tennant promises it’s unlike anything Doctor Who has ever done before.
He enthused:
“I was surprised, when I saw what that first script was based on [i.e. the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip, Doctor Who and the Star Beast] , then I read the second script, which is unlike any Doctor Who episode ever. These new specials are Russell off the leash.”
Davies was great at delivering experimental episodes — Love & Monsters, Midnight, Turn Left, The Waters of Mars — some of which were hugely successful and others less so. But that’s the nature of experimentation, and it’s exactly what the show should be doing.
So why tackle Doctor Who and the Star Beast on TV? Russell explains:
“I needed to bring Donna [Noble, returning companion, played by Catherine Tate] back into the story. Which meant setting it in London, which meant something alien landing on top of London, and I automatically thought of Star Beast as the best way to tell that story.”
And the 60th anniversary trio of stories will be rounded out with The Giggle, set to see the return of the Celestial Toymaker, a First Doctor era villain this time played by Neil Patrick Harris.
Though we don’t have exact dates, it’s safe to say now that Doctor Who is back on TV next month!