Doctor Who returns with David Tennant this week

The 2023 BBC Children in Need telethon will include an exclusive Doctor Who scene starring David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor.

Tennant first appeared as the Fourteenth Doctor in 2022 special “The Power of the Doctor.” He previously portrayed an earlier incarnation of the show’s protagonist, the Tenth Doctor, from 2005 to 2010, and again later in 2013’s 50th anniversary special, “The Day of the Doctor.”

It’s currently unclear why the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors share the same likeness, however, this mystery will presumably be resolved in the three 60th anniversary specials slated for late November and early December. The trio specials will also reunite Tennant with former co-star Catherine Tate, who reprises the Donna Noble role.

Despite the return of two of Doctor Who’s most beloved stars, Tennant recently emphasized how different the 60th anniversary specials are from his previous run on the show. According to Tennant, this is especially true of the second special, “Wild Blue Yonder,” which he recently described as “unlike any Doctor Who episode ever.”

Doctor Who returns with David Tennant for Children in Need

Remarks such as this have fans desperate to find out what Tennant’s second stint on Doctor Who will be like, and the BBC is about to indulge them with a sneak peek – but if they’re based in the UK. The broadcaster just announced that the BBC Children in Need telethon set to air on BBC One and iPlayer on November 17 will include a scene with the Fourteenth Doctor “made specifically” for the program.

An official synopsis of the scene included with the announcement reveals that it will see the Fourteenth Doctor meet “a mysterious new character, played by actor and comedian Mawaan Rizwan.” It also teases that following this encounter, “the Doctor uncovers an age-old mystery involving one of his oldest foes.”

One of the promotional stills accompanying the announcement shows the Fourteenth Doctor leaning towards what appears to be a damaged Dalek. As such, it’s possible (but not yet confirmed) that the long-time enemy referred to in the synopsis is the Daleks.

This would track with the events of the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip “Liberation of the Daleks,” which takes place between “Power of the Doctor” and the 60th anniversary specials and (as its name suggests) depicts a clash between the Fourteenth Doctor and the Daleks.

Again, it’s also worth noting that the BBC is yet to officially confirm that the Daleks will indeed feature in the Children in Need special’s Doctor Who scene.

Doctor Who showrunner Ncuti Gatwa won’t fight the Daleks

By contrast, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has already ruled out the possibility of the Daleks showing up to menace Tennant’s successor, Ncuti Gatwa. The Welsh scribe, who also penned the Children in Need scene and the 60th anniversary specials, confirmed in a recent interview that he’s giving the fan-favorite baddies “a good pause” for the entirety of Gatwa’s first season as the Fifteenth Doctor.

“It’s very new. Ncuti’s new and [incoming female lead] Millie [Gibson] is new and it was new to us with Disney and the whole new era, as it were,” Davies said of his self-imposed Dalek embargo. “So I didn’t want to look… there are no Daleks, there are no Cybermen, I didn’t want to look back too much.”

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