Doctor Who fans are excited about the possibility of Catherine Tate returning as Donna Noble to TV

Before we go too far, we need to be clear this is all speculation. Fans of the show (in the absence of real news from the BBC) are furiously chasing up every small piece of evidence they can find regarding the show’s filming (eg our recent piece). You can see the evidence (such as it is) in various places on Twitter. The trail is:

Jodie Whittaker and John Bishop are filming the new series in Liverpool (fact, and there are also rumours of a new costume for Jodie)

Catherine Tate was in Liverpool at the same time and several people saw her

One fan asked her how she was, and what she was doing and the answer was filming something I can’t discuss due to an NDA

It’s easy to see why fans might get excited, and of course Catherine Tate already reprised Donna Noble on audio for Big Finish. On that basis it’s not impossible she might return. But…

Can Donna Noble return?

A hit with fans, Donna’s exit from the show was hard for the Doctor (some spoilers follow). To save Donna’s life, the then Doctor (David Tennant) had to wipe all of Donna’s memories of travelling in the TARDIS as part of the episode Journey’s End. The theory was her brain would explode from the impact of the events in the so-call meta crisis. Of course writers can come up with a way out of this (and Chris Chibnall has shown he is not afraid to challenge the show’s core concepts head on), but it would remove some of the power of her departure. One solution would be to make it temporary again.

It is of course entirely possible it’s just a cameo without Donna getting her memories, or that Tate is in Liverpool filming something completely different. We’ll keep you posted.