The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble are back for Doctor Who's 60th anniversary - but could their presence linger beyond one episode? The ink is barely dry on Ncuti Gatwa's TARDIS lease, and already the new Doctor has competition from a previous Tennant. Following a year of speculation and rumor, the BBC has officially announced the Tenth Doctor will return, accompanied by Catherine Tate's Donna Noble, who served as his final full-time companion.
Ten's reprisal comes as Russell T. Davies continues to shape his second stint as Doctor Who showrunner. Jodie Whittaker's final episode airs in October 2022, and also marks a farewell for current chief, Chris Chibnall. Though Chibnall's era remains incomplete, RTD's Doctor Who designs are already seizing headlines, first casting Ncuti Gatwa as the new Doctor, and now bringing one of the TARDIS' most famous pairings back to TV with the double-whammy of Tennant and Tate.
As you'd expect, details are being kept to a minimum. The BBC's press release merely confirms the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble will appear during Doctor Who's upcoming 60th anniversary celebrations in 2023. History would suggest the Tenth Doctor collides with regenerations past and present during the traditional Doctor Who anniversary team-up episode, then slip back into his own timestream again (until the 70th anniversary rolls around). But what if Tennant & Donna's Doctor Who returns are more than just an anniversary guest appearance? What if this classic pairing is being readied for a more regular role in Doctor Who's future?
RTD Already Predicted Ten & Donna's Returns In A Doctor Who Shared Universe
David Tennant and Catherine Tate returning for Doctor Who's 60th anniversary conjures memories of a Russell T. Davies interview from January 2021. In conversation with Paul Kirkley, RTD noted how Doctor Who was ahead of its time, and his empire of Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures represented an earlier version of the format Marvel, Star Wars, Star Trek and other established franchises are now peddling on streaming platforms. Speaking 9 months before the BBC announced his return as Doctor Who showrunner, Russell T. Davies lightheartedly mooted both "The Return of Donna Noble" and "the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors together in a 10-part series" as potential TV show ideas (presumably before he suggested "Monkey Tennis" and stormed out brandishing a wheel of cheese).
RTD's comments regarding a Doctor Who shared universe were made semi-tongue-in-cheek, and should be taken with a generous grain of salt. The interview does, however, prove Russell T. Davies' faith in Doctor Who's shared universe potential. Moreover, RTD evidently believes David Tennant's Tenth Doctor and Catherine Tate's Donna Noble still have enough to offer Doctor Who beyond just a one-off episode. Curious, then, how 9 months after pitching those imaginary spinoffs, the showrunner would officially return to Doctor Who, and 8 months after that in May 2022, the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble both join him.
More inklings of a Doctor Who shared universe have squeaked forth from BBC HQ. In November 2021 (after Russell T. Davies return), the production company name "WHONIVERSE1 LTD" was listed publicly, registered under directors associated with the franchise since 2005 (Julie Gardner and Natasha Olivia Anne Hale, for example). The company name certainly signals an intention to build a wider universe from the Doctor Who brand, and with RTD already marking Ten and Donna as potential spinoff stars, their returns aren't necessarily restricted to the traditional single 60th anniversary episode everyone expects.
How The Tenth Doctor & Donna Can Stay In Doctor Who
Doctor Who's Doctors have been bumping into each other since the 1970s, so the mechanics and rules are relatively established by this point. One or more Doctors are drawn together by timey-wimey forces, they stop bickering long enough to save the universe, everyone goes their separate ways, then earlier Doctors forget the encounter to avoid any canon catastrophes. Chances are, that's exactly what'll happen when David Tennant and Catherine Tate arrive in Doctor Who's 60th anniversary (along with whomever else Russell T. Davies has tempted back). But something feels different this time...
In announcing the Tenth Doctor's return alongside Donna Noble, Russell T. Davies remarked, "What on earth is happening? Maybe this is a missing story. Or a parallel world. Or a dream, or a trick, or a flashback..." Since Doctor Who's audience is already intimately familiar with the concept of multi-Doctor stories, RTD building intrigue over how Tennant and Tate return suggests something more unique is afoot. Adding to that strangeness, the BBC announcement only confirms the pair are "filming scenes that are due to air in 2023 to coincide with the show’s 60th anniversary celebrations," which isn't quite the same as saying, "David Tennant and Catherine Tate return for Doctor Who's 60th anniversary." Consider also how RTD promised RadioTimes "brand new ways of telling stories that have never been done before," confirming he wouldn't have returned unless Doctor Who was doing something fresh.
Rather than your standard one-off 60th anniversary episode, then, Doctor Who could be hurtling toward a shared universe that spotlights different Doctors in separate stories, building toward a massive crossover further down the line. The likes of Ncuti Gatwa and David Tennant could each get their own run of episodes before teaming up against a mammoth threat to space and time, crossing over and touching upon each other's narratives in a manner not dissimilar to the MCU. Rather than the Tenth Doctor popping up to annoy Matt Smith then promptly disappearing again like he did in 2013's "The Day of the Doctor," therefore, Tennant and Tate would actually hang around a while.
Can The Tenth Doctor Work Alongside Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor?
Reintroducing the Tenth Doctor as a regular feature beyond Doctor Who's 60th anniversary bonanza might seem a little harsh on Ncuti Gatwa. How can a fresh-faced newcomer possibly establish themselves as a Time Lord when David Tennant and his famous quiff keep creeping into shot? In truth, Gatwa may fare better if Tennant does stick around.
From details given when Russell T. Davies' return was first made public in September 2021, the new (old) showrunner's first episode back will be the 60th anniversary. Assuming Jodie Whittaker regenerates into Ncuti Gatwa in October 2022, that'd mean the new Doctor makes his full debut in the 60th anniversary... alongside the returning David Tennant and Catherine Tate. The presence of two TARDIS legends would make Gatwa's already tough job altogether more daunting.
Doctor Who taking the shared universe route - giving David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa separate stints in the TARDIS throughout 2023/2024 - suits the newcomer far better. The separation lets Gatwa make a name for himself before joining Tennant in an eventual crossover, and though he'd still be the new kid on Gallifrey's block, Matt Smith proved fresher-faced Time Lords can hold their own against old favorites.
Mapping out a long-form multi-doctor story that incorporates classic duos like the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble alongside later regenerations such as Ncuti Gatwa would represent a deeply ambitious undertaking, the likes of which has never transpired before onscreen... but Doctor Who's Big Finish audio books prove the format can work. Though not exactly alike, 2019's The Legacy of Time comprised a series of stories starring different Doctors (alongside a swathe of famous companions from all eras), before ending with a collaboration between nine regenerations (the first ten minus Christopher Eccleston) in "Collision Course." Russell T. Davies has the vision and experience to make something similar work on TV.