Doctor Who Might Be Bringing Back Another Classic Character

Doctor Who fans are trying to piece together all the clues about the highly-anticipated upcoming 60th-anniversary season in 2023. Some already believe they've figured out the identity of Neil Patrick Harris' mystery villain. As if David Tennant and Catherine Tate returning to the show wasn't enough, some fans now believe they've figured out another returning character based on comments about the spinoff podcast, Doctor Who: Redacted. That scripted podcast featured some familiar characters, including Jodie Whittaker as the Thirteenth Doctor. However, creator Juno Dawson revealed to RadioTimes that she'd originally hoped to have Tate bring Donna Noble back for the podcast's seventh episode (Tate has already provided Donna's voice in Big Finish audio dramas) but those plans were scrapped, likely due to her upcoming return to live-action.

"Initially, Donna was supposed to be in episode seven," Dawson said. "But we were told 'absolutely not', for obvious reasons now."

Another interesting comment about characters that the podcast planned to use involved K9, which the writers replaced with a new character called Floater. "I'm so glad we couldn't use K9 in the end, because I adore Floater!" Dawson said.

Fans can't help but wonder why K9 was off-limits for podcast use. Could it be for the same reason that Donna was forbidden? Because K9 will show up in the 60th anniversary season? It's all speculation for now, but it would make sense.

Another possibility is that K9 is going to show up in the centenary special this fall. That special, which will see Whittaker's Doctor regenerate, is bringing back two classic Doctor Who companions. Some already believe that Sophie Aldred companion, Ace, took K9 in after his previous caretaker, Sarah Jane Smith, another classic companion, died along with Elisabeth Sladen, the actor who played the character. While returning showrunner Russell T. Davies did bring K9 into modern Doctor Who during his original run on the series, along with Sladen as Sarah Jane, the mechanical dog does seem to fit in better with the classic companions.

K9, created by Bob Baker and Dave Martin, first appeared with Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor in the 1977 Doctor Who serial "The Invisible Enemy." Upgraded versions of the character have appeared over the years, primarily voiced by John Leeson. His most recently appeared as K9 Mark IV in the Doctor Who episode "School Reunion" and in the Doctor Who spinoff series The Sarah Jane Adventures starring Sladen.