To mark David Tennant’s birthday this week, the Doctor Who team have provided a new look at his Fourteenth Doctor
What a wild, fun, but slightly weird time to be a Doctor Who fan. We’re well used to the strange mix of sorrow and anticipation as one Doctor’s era comes to an end and another is about to begin. But never before have fans thrilled to the sight of a new Doctor filming before his predecessor first episode airs. However, as we await David Tennant’s return to the TARDIS this November, while pouring over every new photograph of the fabulous Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson, that’s exactly what’s happening.
Fortunately, just in case anyone forgets him, the BBC Studios/Bad Wolf team have released a new photo of Tennant. It’s to celebrate the actor’s 52nd birthday and it’s a cute echo of one of his very first official photographs from 2005. Similar to that image, it shows his Doctor sticks his head around the TARDIS door, cheeky smirk in place.
The Doctor Who team have struck a fine balance in promoting the show with lots of images, while maintaining secrecy about the plots
The new photo is part of the remarkable mix of promotion and secrecy Bad Wolf are bringing to the 60th Anniversary. Even as it feels we’re moving into a new era of free flowing publicity photos for both Tennant and Gatwa, we still know precious little about the episodes themselves. Slightly incredibly, the barnstorming trailer for the Diamond Anniversary, so full on creatures, action, drama, and laughs, only included footage from the first of the three specials! They’ve released no footage at all from the other two.
One thing we do know though is that the original plans for the 60th Anniversary had to change slightly. Talking at GalaxyCon, David Tennant explained that “very sadly [Bernard Cribbins] wasn’t in those episodes as much as we hoped.” However, even though the legendary British actor was “getting old and a little bit infirm … he was still full of beans and full of energy.”
“Bernard is much missed and much grieved for,” Tennant concluded, “but I am so excited that his final screen performance will be [one] I had the great honour of being part of and you’ll see it all on your screens.”
