The Doctor is in! Make that Doctors since Doctor Who season 14 seems to be jam-packed with new and familiar faces — including former star David Tennant.
The long-running BBC America show ended Jodie Whittaker‘s tenure as the time-traveling hero (a role she took over from Peter Capaldi in 2018) in October 2022. She and showrunner Chris Chibnall left Doctor Who together, making way for a new cast and a returning showrunner in season 14.
Sex Education actor Ncuti Gatwa has been announced as the next incarnation of the Doctor. The 29-year-old is only a few years older than Matt Smith was when he became the youngest actor to ever portray the Time Lord in 2011 at age 26.
Russell T. Davies, who led the 2005 relaunch of the sci-fi show and departed alongside Tennant in 2010, will return as showrunner. “Ncuti dazzled us, seized hold of the Doctor and owned those TARDIS keys in seconds,” Davies said in a May 2022 statement when Gatwa was announced in the role. “It’s an honour to work with him, and a hoot, I can’t wait to get started.”
The writer was tight-lipped about any further details, though. “I can’t wait to talk to you about them but it’s just not fair,” he told RadioTimes after the announcement. “Jodie’s there. She owns it, she’s got a big finale in October and if we start nipping – we have to announce today because people would have found out about Ncuti whether we liked it or not, that’s the curse of Doctor Who.”
Though Davies would like fans to focus on Whittaker’s “beyond epic” finale, the BBC had to announce Tennant’s return as well to avoid others spoiling the news. The Good Omens star was flying the TARDIS (the Doctor’s time-traveling spaceship) from 2005 to 2010. He returned in 2013 for the 50th anniversary special, titled “The Day of the Doctor,” and he’ll return again to celebrate the iconic British show’s 60th birthday. This time, the Scottish actor will reunite with Catherine Tate, who played companion Donna Noble in the fourth season, for the three-episode arc.
“They’re back!” Davies teased in the May 2022 announcement. “And it looks impossible — first, we announce a new Doctor, and then an old Doctor, along with the wonderful Donna, what on earth is happening? Maybe this is a missing story. Or a parallel world. Or a dream, or a trick, or a flashback. The only thing I can confirm is that it’s going to be spectacular, as two of our greatest stars reunite for the battle of a lifetime.”
Scroll down to see everything we know so far about the 2023 episodes of Doctor Who:
Nicole Massabrook
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