David Tennant describes his return for the Doctor Who 60th anniversary as “one last shot before you get too old to do it again”.

Though thoughts are naturally turning to Ncuti Gatwa’s first season as the Fifteenth Doctor (seeing as he’s currently filming Series 14, so we’re seeing on-location shots), we’ve got three episode of Doctor Who still to come later this year. They’re feature Tennant, this time as the Fourteenth Doctor instead of the Tenth or Metacrisis Doctor, and David reflects:

“The specifics of coming back to Doctor Who took a bit of wrangling. But we were always receptive to the notion. Initially, it was a casual conversation, going, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to do a one-off?’ Then Russell [T Davies] was back running the show and suddenly it could be something bigger. But there’s really no pressure. It’s a victory lap, in a way – you get to enjoy something that had meant so much to you, one last shot before you get too old to do it again.”

Indeed, Tennant’s return, alongside Donna Noble actress, Catherine Tate, apparently came about via the Lockdown Who rewatches, in which fandom joined in on semi-regular events consisting of numerous episodes being rewatched at the same time; cast and crew members typically joined in on Twitter to shine a light on behind the scenes happenings.

We’ll see more of the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna Noble in November 2023, in three episodes: The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle.