A new image from the upcoming Doctor Who anniversary special showcases David Tennant’s return to the long-running sci-fi show. Tennant previously starred as the Tenth Doctor, one of many iterations of the titular Time Lord, who has the ability to regenerate form. Although The Doctor will be played by Ncuti Gatwa in the reboot show’s upcoming season 14, which also sees the return of showrunner Russell T. Davies, Tennant will also appear in the three-part 60th anniversary special, which premieres this November.
Entertainment Weekly has shared an exclusive first-look image from the upcoming three-part special that will precede Doctor Who season 14. Check it out below:
The image shows David Tennant as The Doctor peeking his head out of the door of the TARDIS. While bathed in an unearthly glow from inside the transport device, he looks somewhat shocked at what he is witnessing.
David Tennant’s Doctor Who Return Explained
Tennant’s Tenth Doctor originally exited the show in 2010, at which point he was replaced by Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor. However, the Tenth Doctor has appeared elsewhere in the long-running franchise. It’s not uncommon for previous Doctors to reunite with current ones in other specials, as the Tenth Doctor did in the 2013 special “The Day of the Doctor.”
However, Tennant is not playing the Tenth Doctor in these new specials. As was revealed in the Power of the Doctor ending, Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor regenerated into the Fourteenth Doctor, who is also played by Tennant. Gatwa’s iteration of the character, who will most likely be introduced in these upcoming specials, will instead be the Fifteenth Doctor after previously believed to be the Fourteenth.
It is currently unknown how different the Fourteenth Doctor will be from Tennant’s portrayal of the Tenth Doctor. This situation is unprecedented for Doctor Who, and could possibly involve a mysterious force operating on the Doctor. Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor will have a presumably brief tenure on the show, which likely reveals the fact that something very mysterious is going on that caused this situation to arise.
