David Tennant’s Return to ‘Doctor Who’ Will Be a Disney Plus Exclusive in the United States
As fans around the world anticipate the 60th-anniversary specials, a new home has been found for future episodes of the classic science fiction show.
The popular science fiction series Doctor Who is undergoing a regeneration, and the revamped edition will soon join Star Wars and Marvel on Disney Plus.
In late 2023, former lead actor David Tennant will reprise his role for a few one-off episodes that will only be available on Disney’s streaming service. On Tuesday’s episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan, actor Ncuti Gatwa broke the news.
During a three-part special commencing in November 2023 and leading into a new series, Gatwa will replace Tennant as the show’s star. The central character, a mysterious time traveler known only as the Doctor, is an alien with the power to change bodies. This ability has been a significant factor in the show’s success.
Also Read: Disney Plus will add new episodes of ‘Doctor Who’ in 2023
As a result, in a special episode broadcast on Sunday, current star Jodie Whittaker transformed into David Tennant, who portrayed the tenth Doctor from 2005 to 2010. Writer and showrunner Russell T. Davies, who won an Emmy for his work on the show’s relaunch in 2005, is also back.
The program premiered in November 1963. Therefore Davies is taking over just in time for Tennant to be the guest star for the show’s 60th-anniversary special.
Although BBC America will continue to air the show in the United States, the three-anniversary specials will only be shown on BBC in the United Kingdom. When asked by CNET, Disney confirmed that future episodes are included in the arrangement with the BBC, but those existing episodes will not be brought over to Disney Plus at this time.
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If you want to catch up on the revived series (from 2005), you can do so on HBO Max, while the original can be found on Britbox. Tennant is the 10th Doctor and the 14th overall for those keeping score at home.
Gatwa will be the fifteenth Doctor (officially; the whole thing is more convoluted than that, but we’ll leave that discussion to the fan forums). Davies said in a statement to the press, “I love this show, and this is the best of both worlds — with the vision and joy of the BBC and Disney Plus, together we can launch the TARDIS all around the planet, reaching a new generation of fans while keeping our traditional home firmly on the BBC in the UK.”
Appropriately for a show celebrating its diamond anniversary, a modernized version of the show’s traditional diamond-shaped emblem, which initially appeared on-screen and in books and goods from 1973 to 1980, has been introduced.
