Saturday, May 13, 2023

Doctor Who - Series 14 Casting News, 60th Anniversary Titles And More

These blogs are happening more often now, given the steady flux of information that's been coming out. It truly is an exciting time to be a Doctor Who fan.

As filming for Series 14 continues a pace, we've had both the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) in various looks, most recently sporting 1960s attire in an episode with Jinkx Monsoon (Rupaul's Drag Race) but now, we're going a bit further back in time as filming move into a new episode.

Along with Jonathan Groff (Looking, Knock At The Cabin), the current episode being filmed sees the Doctor and Ruby in Regency times with a mysterious character named the Duchess, who we're warned by showrunner Russell T. Davies to be aware. Who exactly is the Duchess and who is Jonathan Groff playing? Is he a guest historical character or a potential recurring presence in this upcoming series? Either way, he's another excellent casting coup for the show.

A bit closer to things, marketing for the upcoming 60th anniversary specials have included a Blue Peter competition involving David Tennant's 14th Doctor but more importantly, the show also took advantage of the hype of tonight's Eurovision in Liverpool. Not only was the returning Catherine Tate there to present the points for the UK but we got a new trailer for the three specials.

The trailer itself also did one better by revealing the titles of the episodes, all written by Russell T. Davies. The first special directed by Rachel Talalay is called The Star Beast, the second special directed by Tom Kingsley is called Wild Blue Yonder while the third special directed by Chanya Button is called The Giggle.

Clips from the trailer did show various scenes with the Doctor and Donna as well as the latter's daughter, Rose (Yasmin Finney). We also saw clips of Beep the Meep, the Wrarth Warriors as well as a new UNIT HQ and Neil Patrick Harris's mysterious character. There also seems to be some mystery surrounding the middle special to boot but while the trailer didn't reveal any additional casting, it certainly gave us enough to mull over.

Also in news that will shock absolutely no one at all was the BBC and Russell T Davies confirming that Murray Gold was returning to compose the music for the anniversary specials. I'm pleased he's back and I'm also happy he will remain for Series 14 to boot.

Last but not least we can also add Jamie Donoughue as a director for the fifth block of Series 14, which will comprise of the finale. This follows other directors Dylan Holmes Williams (episodes 4 and 5), Mark Tonderai (Christmas 2023), Julie Anne Robinson (episodes tbc) and Ben Chessell (episode 2 and tbc). Thing are certainly moving in a very exciting direction.

Doctor Who continues filming and will air on BBC1 and stream on Disney+ from November.

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