A loud cry of excitement has been heard around the world as the BBC has confirmed that David Tennant and Billie Piper will indeed reprise their roles in the upcoming ‘Doctor Who’ 50th anniversary special.
Fans of the series will be seeing the return of the 10th Doctor and his companion, Rose, when the anniversary episode airs in November. This marks the first time Tennant has donned the Time Lord pin-stripped suit since his departure from the series in 2010. Piper briefly appeared in the role of Rose in Tennant’s last episode ‘The End of Time – Part 2’.
Previously, both actors denied any involvement with the special with Piper stating on ‘The Graham Norton Show’ that she wasn’t asked and Tennant previously stating he has lost hope of being asked to appear. But all that has been cast aside now that their appearance has been officially announced.
What part in the overall 50th anniversary story the two will play is unknown. Will Tennant and Piper appear in a flashback sequence or will we see the two as the meta 10th Doctor and Rose from the other dimension? Hopefully the two will have a large role in the plot as it would be great to see them, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman all working together.
Also confirmed to appear in the episode is John Hurt (‘Immortals’, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2’, ‘Alien’, ‘V for Vendetta’) who role has not been revealed.
A fan favorite that we won’t be seeing is John Barrowman who tweeted last week that he would not be a part of the special episode.
The ‘Doctor Who’ 50th anniversary show will begin filming next week and will be directed by Nick Hurran who also directed the ‘Doctor Who’ episode’s ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’, ‘ Asylum of the Daleks’, ‘The God Complex’ and ‘The Girl Who Waited.’
The script was written by none other than Steven Moffat who has taken great care to keep the plot a secret, but according to Smith, the script “manages to pay homage to everything – and look forward. I read it and I clapped at the end. I think it’s hilarious, it’s epic and it’s vast.”
This is wonderful news for Whovians and I hope as the filming for the special progresses, we’ll be hearing more news of other fan favorite actors that may make a cameo in the episode.
Are you as excited as I am for the return of 10 and Rose (and in 3D no less!)?