Monday, December 26, 2022

Doctor Who - 15th Doctor Costume Reveal, Christmas Day Trailer (Spoilers)

When I said now is a good time to be a Doctor Who fan, I really do mean it. If we're getting spoiled now, then 2023 is going to be quite the year for the show.

First of all, last week finally gave us a look of Ncuti Gatwa's 15th Doctor in costume with some nice promo pictures and a social media video where both Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson showed off their looks in style. 

Filming for the festive special next year began early this month. The episode written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams will debut both Gatwa and Gibson as the 15th Doctor and Ruby Sunday, though specific details about the episode itself will likely be revealed in due course. However before both of them make their festive debut, we have three specials prior to their arrival.

On Christmas Day 2022 and in the most advanced bit of marketing from the BBC in the longest time ever, we got a trailer for the three specials making up the 60th anniversary celebrations and it was the perfect nostalgia hit while hinting at some very new ad exciting stuff to come for the series. 

David Tennant will of course being playing the 14th Doctor with Catherine Tate reprising her role as Donna Temple-Noble along with the late Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott, Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble and Karl Collins as Shaun Temple-Noble. These specials will also see the debut of Yasmin Finney as Rose Temple-Noble.

The three specials, all written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Rachel Talalay, Tom Kingsley and Chanya Button are definitely going to be offering a lot of interesting surprises for viewers. Along with a new Doctor in a former body, the returning of a former companion and her extended family since their previous appearance in 2010, we also have Ruth Madeley playing a new character named Shirley Anne Bingham, whom I'm suspecting might be a recurring character in Russell T. Davies second run. Madeley also plays a Sixth Doctor companion named Hebe for the Big Finish audios.

In terms of potential threats though, there's Neil Patrick Harris's yet to be revealed character (I still think he's a version of the Celestial Toymaker), while the trailer itself revealed both Beep the Meep (who has scenes with Rose) and the Wrarth Warriors. Could there be more villains yet to be revealed? I'm not sure but either way, these three have massive potential against the 14th Doctor, Donna and the latter's extended family.

Doctor Who has had a bit of a divisive time in recent years but the marketing since Russell T. Davies has taken over certainly has injected a lot of enthusiasm for the upcoming specials, along with the steady flow of information we've been getting these last few months. 2023 is going to be a big comeback for the series.

The 60th Anniversary specials for Doctor Who will debut on BBC1 and Disney+ from November 2023. Filming for Series 14 will commence next year for a 2024 debut.

No comments: