Following the end of his tenure as Doctor Who’s lead actor at the start of 2010, David Tennant returned to the long-running sci-fi series for its two most recent milestone anniversaries. The 50th anniversary special in 2013, titled “The Day of the Doctor,” was relatively straightforward. Tennant reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor for a team-up with Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor and John Hurt’s War Doctor.
The 60th anniversary, on the other hand, opted for a much wilder approach to bring Tennant back. Rather than the Tenth Doctor returning for more adventures, the actor instead played the Fourteenth Doctor, whom Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor regenerated into at the end of 2022’s “The Power of the Doctor.”
This technically wasn’t the first time that an actor has portrayed two versions of the heroic Time Lord, as Sylvester McCoy briefly subbed in for Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor for the scene where he regenerated into the Seventh Doctor. However, Tennant is now the first actor to play two distinctly different versions of The Doctor, who are certainly similar in some regards besides physical appearance, but also have their fair share of differences.
Tennant anchored all three Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials, with the last one letting him share Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor thanks to the shocking bi-generation. Yet, as novel as it was to have the Jessica Jones alum playing two separate Doctors, it’s the way the Fourteenth Doctor’s introduction was handled that ended a Doctor Who era and hopefully marks the start of a new one.
David Tennant’s Surprise Return Changed Doctor Who Forever
It was announced on May 15, 2022, that Tennant and Catherine Tate, a.k.a. Doctor Who’s Donna Noble, were both returning for the show’s 60th anniversary. This announcement came just a week after Gatwa was revealed to be playing the next incarnation of The Doctor, and five months ahead of “The Power of the Doctor.”
What was incorrectly assumed at the time was that Gatwa had been cast as the Fourteenth Doctor and that Tennant would simply reprise the Tenth Doctor as he did for the 50th anniversary. Tennant’s new Doctor Who role was instead saved as a surprise for the end of “The Power of the Doctor,” with the Fourteenth Doctor reacting to the return of this familiar face with just as much shock as fans did. By extension, this jaw-dropping moment confirmed Gatwa was joining Doctor Who as the Fifteenth Doctor instead.
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This was a great subversion of expectations, and even better, the show replicated this twist in an arguably even crazier way. The Doctor Who season 15 finale, titled “The Reality War,” ended with the Fifteenth Doctor regenerating into a form resembling Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler. However, not only was Piper’s return not announced ahead of time, but neither was the fact that “The Reality War” would serve as Gatwa’s final episode.
Doctor Who’s Future Will Be More Fun If We Don’t Know When Regenerations Are Coming
Announcing that an actor’s run on Doctor Who will be coming to an end essentially functions as a countdown clock. Once it’s revealed when their last episode will air, fans have time to brace for this concluding chapter and meet a new Doctor, whose actor is usually announced months ahead of time. While that’s fine, it’s also been nice to have been surprised by the past two regenerations in one form or another.
Doctor Who has a new Christmas special debuting at the end of 2026, and while not officially confirmed, it’s expected that Piper’s appearance is a one-off affair. So, in that sense, one kind of regeneration surprise is already off the table. Doctor Who‘s next lead will likely be introduced in the Christmas special, though it’s unclear if they’ll be the Sixteenth Doctor (if Piper is instead reprising Rose or playing a brand-new character) or the Seventeenth Doctor.
That said, the BBC would be wise to consider keeping the regeneration after that a secret on all fronts. Years from now, when the next Doctor’s tenure is coming to an end, the public shouldn’t be informed about this ahead of time, nor should the identity of the next Doctor be announced.
Let Doctor Who fans learn this without prior warning to add additional twists and turns to this timey-wimey show. It would be a welcome new tradition. It’s also important to note that Tennant is returning to the Doctor Who franchise for an upcoming audio drama in 2027.
- Release Date
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May 11, 2024
- Network
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BBC One
- Directors
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Alex Pillai, Peter Hoar, Ben Chessell, Julie Anne Robinson, Jamie Donoughue, Amanda Brotchie, Dylan Holmes Williams
- Writers
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Steven Moffat, Pete McTighe, Kate Herron, Inua Ellams, Juno Dawson
- Franchise(s)
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Doctor Who / Whoniverse
