David Tennant Back For Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary?

[Brendon Connelly]

We don't know just how they'd pull it off, but Bleeding Cool has heard from a solid source that David Tennant will be returning to Doctor Who.

Word of Tennant's involvement was passed along to us this evening. Here's what we have been told, word for word:

Yes. David Tennant will be back in time for the Doctor Who anniversary. Be prepared to be surprised...

Too late for preparation, I'm afraid, because I'm rather surprised already.

It somehow doesn't seen very Moffat-y to me. I really thought he was trying to draw a line between his era as show runner and everything that came before. I guess there might be space for Tennant and, if he'd only play along, Christopher Eccleston, seeing as Moffat has written for both before.

It's worth noting that we have also asked our Who-adjacent friends about John Simm returning as The Master. That's another persistent rumour that pops up in our inbox every now and then, alongside the Tennant one, but unless somebody we know to have some kind of vantage point on the issue can comment, we'll have to just keep shrugging.Would be nice though, right?

Hearsay has told me that there will be two anniversary specials for the show, though this is far from confirmed and it may yet turn out to be several, or just one. Moffat has apparently been laying the groundwork for the anniversary storyline for some time. I can't help but hope it's going to be very special.

[dave_worrell]

This doesn't surprise me nearly as much as it does you. I've pretty much expected it and definitely welcome it. It will be nice to see him return and I expect it will be very clever and rewarding.

[Jimvanhise]

Although I don't know that the whole story has been revealed, Christopher Eccleston recently said that he didn't intended to leave the show after one season but felt he had no choice. I can only think that they wanted him to sign a multi-year contract and he only wanted to do one year at a time.

[Celestin]

While I understand why they avoid it normally, I expect every living Doctor to have at least a cameo role in these specials. Honoring 50 years of Doctor Who simply demands it.

[Somebody]

Tennant's been dropping heavy hints in interviews that, at least, he would do it whenever he's been asked for quite some time now. And Moffat said something about coming around to the idea of a multi-Doctor site a few months back too.

Although I don't know that the whole story has been revealed, Christopher Eccleston recently said that he didn't intended to leave the show after one season but felt he had no choice. I can only think that they wanted him to sign a multi-year contract and he only wanted to do one year at a time.

IIRC, it was some combination of (1) he felt the crew was being treated badly/overworked, (2) he didn't feel he had enough input and (3) problems with the director of the first shooting block, and by the time he worked with better directors he'd made his decision.

[Zevad]

I wonder if it'll be the tenth Doctor prior to the regenration or the Metacrisis Doctor who's half human and on Pete's Earth.

[paulski]

Well duh. I would have bet my house on Tennant being involved in some capacity, so this is hardly news to me.

The only question will be whether they can persuade Eccleston to do likewise. Easier said than done, but given how "fantastic" he was (pun intended) in just one season, I hope they can pull it off.

[brian-cs]

I would like to see Tennent and Eccleston. I hope the BBC gets them. Heck, they should go for broke and get all the living Doctors but, being the BBC they don't like that word. Sigh.

[Michael D.]

Honestly I would be surprised if Tennant was NOT involved. He's just about the biggest Who fanboy there is. I was never completely sold on his portrayal - he came across like a shouty student - but I enjoyed a number of his stories.

There has been a Two Doctors, Three Doctors, and Five Doctors...why not a Four Doctors with Smith, Tennant, McGann, and Eccleston (or if Eccleston takes a pass, insert McCoy - with some makeup he could still pull it off)?

[the_Dagman]

I wonder if it'll be the tenth Doctor prior to the regenration or the Metacrisis Doctor who's half human and on Pete's Earth.

I was always of the impression that the metacrisis Doctor with Rose on Pete's Earth was Tennant's and Piper's back door to returning to the characters as a spin-off series some years down the road. There was even a deleted scene where the Doctor gives his duplicate a chunk of TARDIS matter, to which he complained that it would take centuries to grow a new TARDIS from it. Until Doctor Donna told him a trick to get in done in around 15.

So I just assumed they'd start the series at the point of having a freshly-grown TARDIS and it is time to begin to explore that alternate universe. He could still be with Rose, or they could have broken up and he goes solo. It is David Tennant's retirement plan. He can always score a job and keep a paycheck coming.