| Specials (2023): Familiar Faces |
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With the departure of Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who underwent a
major behind-the-scenes overhaul. Not only did Russell T Davies (bio) return for a second stint as
the programme's showrunner, but the BBC also engaged a co-production
partner for the first time since Doctor
Who (1996). The involvement of Bad Wolf Ltd brought back a
number of faces who had been a part of Doctor Who during Davies'
original tenure, with Julie Gardner, Jane Tranter and Phil Collinson all
joining Davies and newcomer Joel Collins to form a team of executive
producers.
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Children In Need Special (2023)
by Russell T Davies, directed by Jamie Donoughue
In a laboratory on Skaro, Davros has nearly perfected a machine which
will forever reshape the future of the Kaled race. But when Davros
entrusts the project to the care of Mr Castavillian, an unexpected
visitor arrives in the form of the Doctor...
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The Star Beast by Russell T Davies,
directed by Rachel Talalay
The TARDIS brings the Doctor to Earth, where he almost immediately runs
into Donna Noble, her husband Shaun, and their daughter Rose -- just
before a spaceship comes down in the middle of London. Desperate to
avoid triggering the metacrisis which will inevitably cause Donna's
demise, the Doctor tracks the vessel to a steelworks, where the
responding UNIT soldiers are behaving very strangely.
Meanwhile, an impish alien called the Meep has escaped the ship and
found shelter with Rose. When the Wrarth Warriors invade the Noble
residence, the Doctor may have no choice but to imperil the life of one
of his best friends.
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Wild Blue Yonder by Russell T
Davies, directed by Tom Kingsley
Careering out of control through time and space, the TARDIS materialises
aboard a massive spaceship which has emerged from a wormhole at the very
edge of the universe. The Doctor and Donna leave the time machine so
that it can repair itself, only to watch in shock as it vanishes. The
TARDIS has been spooked by a hostile presence that it has detected
aboard the vessel, but all the travellers can find is an ancient,
virtually inert robot and a strange knocking on the hull. Yet while the
ship's computer confirms the absence of other life signs, the Doctor and
Donna are soon confronted by their own distorted doppelgangers.
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The Giggle by Russell T Davies,
directed by Chanya Button
The human race has gone mad, every individual suddenly seized with the
absolute conviction that their opinions are uniquely correct. With the
help of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, the Doctor and Donna
discover that the onset of the hysteria is tied to the launch of a new
satellite, which has achieved the goal of bringing telecommunications to
every part of the planet. Buried underneath the television signal since
its inception is a sinister giggle, and the Doctor realises that the
culprit is his old nemesis, the Toymaker. Now he and Donna must play the
celestial entity's games one more time, with the Earth's future at
stake.
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Shot by the Toymaker, the Doctor undergoes a bigeneration, leaving the
Fifteenth Doctor to wander space and time while the Fourteenth Doctor
convalesces with Donna's family.
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The specials that celebrated Doctor Who's sixtieth anniversary
were originally inspired by the watchalongs which had helped buoy fans
during the lockdowns imposed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in
2020. As such, they had one eye on the past, reuniting Russell T Davies
with the tandem of David Tennant as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as
Donna Noble, and resolving lingering storylines from 2008. But once it
was agreed that these specials would lead to Davies' full-time return to
Doctor Who, they were given a dual purpose. The specials would
now effectively relaunch the show for a second time, as the centrepiece
of an extended Whoniverse of programming which would be
supported, in part, by the financial might of the Walt Disney Company.
A key element of Davies' plan was an audacious and unprecedented debut
for the Fifteenth Doctor, one which saw the Fourteenth Doctor
miraculously live on.
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