David Tennant Calls Doctor Who Return “An Unexpected Treat”

David Tennant is returning to Doctor Who for the upcoming 60th anniversary special, and he’s as happy about that as anybody else. The actor called the experience “joyous” and “an unexpected treat,” and while he acknowledged that he isn’t the first Doctor to return to the series after some time away (or even his first time returning), this is the most “proper” return, where he has a new in-canon story complete with a story that allows for the Doctor to regenerate into and out of the Tennant look in the course of it. Doctor Who will return next for a trio of 60th-anniversary specials. Russell T. Davies is back as showrunner, and Tennant and Cate have returned for the event. Incoming star Ncuti Gatwa is waiting in the wings to take over as the Fifteenth Doctor, with Millie Gibson as the Doctor’s new companion, Ruby Sunday.

Recently, the BBC released a video with Tennant and Catherine Tate, wishing fans a happy Doctor Who Day. The BBC also released a retrospective trailer looking back and the Doctor and Donna Noble’s friendship (which will be rekindled in the upcoming 60th-anniversary specials around this time next year). 

“Oh, joyous,” Tennant recently told Entertainment Weekly of his return. “Just an unexpected treat to get to revisit something that had been such a lovely wonderful experience 15 years ago. To get to have another proper runaround, in an albeit slightly different long coat, was a joy I never really imagined.”

Davies, also speaking with EW, said that casting Tennant and Tate in the specials was a no-brainer.

“I realized that there was third act to be written, and it was so much fun writing it,” Davies told the magazine. “On a really simple level, it’s working with two of the best actors in the world. I love them. I love them as friends. I love their presence. I’m really interested to push the Doctor and Donna into things they’ve never done before.”

Episodes of the modern Doctor Who series are streaming on HBO Max in the United States. You can get caught up on the series with our streaming binge guide.

Future seasons of Doctor Who, beginning with the 60th-anniversary specials, will stream on Disney+. The series returns in November 2023.