In Doctor Who Magazine 585, showrunner Russell T Davies and script editor Scott Handcock revealed a few teasing details about the three Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials.
Davies promised “Big news soon,” on an eight-word title. The longer-than-usual title is possibly for the first of the three specials since he promised it will be announced soon.
Tim Hodges completed some fine editing on the three specials on 31 October.
Special One, directed by Rachel Talalay:
Page seven of Special One contains the line, “Oh, Nerys and her big mouth!”, likely spoken by Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) of her frenemy.
A full script was issued to a leading guest actor on 12 October for Special One. This guest actor recorded ADR (additional dialogue replacement) on 17 October in London. This type of recording is done to add dialogue in post-production — either to create more audible lines or to voice an animated or computer-generated character — or to voice a character portrayed by another actor in a creature costume. This leading guest actor is rumoured to be Miriam Margolyes.
Special Two, directed By Tom Kingsley:
Special Two contains these words: Southampton, wild, vegetable, bean, starlight and Flux. Yes, Flux is capitalized, meaning the destructive force known as The Flux from Series 13 of Doctor Who gets a reference in the 60th Anniversary specials. In fact, the word “Flux” was written in graffiti as part of the set dressing for Special Three filming in Bristol.
Special Three, directed by Chanya Button:
In the trailer for to 60th anniversary special, Ncuti Gatwa’s first line at the end was missing a word. The word ‘now’ was clipped because the top of the shot is “on the move.” The Fifteenth Doctor says “Now someone tell me, what the hell is going on here?” Davies claims the “dark and stormy” sky behind him was added in post-production to the trailer scene and we wont see it again because the actual location of the scene would give away too much. This scene is possibly from Special Three, assuming David Tennant’s fourteenth Doctor regenerates into the Fifteenth Doctor in the third and final special. But you never know when an old enemy of the Doctor might create an intricate illusion — which could be teased throughout the three specials.
Three 60th anniversary specials starring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as companion Donna Noble will air in November 2023.
Ncuti Gatwa’s first full episode as the Fifteenth Doctor will air some time during the festive period after the three Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials.
Doctor Who Series 14 starring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor will consist of eight episodes to air in 2024 and will be followed by an additional festive special.
Doctor Who Magazine 585 is available now from Panini and WH Smith priced £7.99 (UK). A digital edition is also available from PocketMags priced £6.99.