After a lot of speculation, both the BBC and Disney+ have confirmed the speculation that the three long-awaited 60 anniversary specials for Doctor Who will begin broadcast from 25th November. These will follow a range of other celebratory events and programmes in the lead up to the technical official birthday on 23rd November.
The first special (an adaptation of Doctor Who Weekly‘s Star Beast ) will air on 25th, Wild Blue Yonder will air on 5th December and the following week, The Giggle will have the last laugh. Showrunner Russell T. Davies has already confirmed that there will also be an unnamed Christmas Special this year (featuring the new Doctor played by Ncuti Gatwa), though – at this point – it isn’t known if this fill fill a traditional slot on Christmas Day itself.
The three anniversary specials feature David Tennant’s return to the role (though technically as the 14th Doctor, not the 10th) alongside Catherine Tate’s Donna Temple-Noble. Neil Patrick Harris takes the role of the villain ‘The Toymaker‘ not seen since the days of first incarnation William Hartnell back in the mid 1960s.
Disney+ struck a deal to be the global home of Doctor Who (with the exception of the UK where it will remain part of the BBC crown jewels) and looks likely to be streaming the new series with Gatwa sometime in the spring.
