“The Third One Is… Bananas”: David Tennant Explains Differences Between New Doctor Who Episodes
David Tennant opens up about Doctor Who's three 60th anniversary specials, revealing how each episode is distinct from one another in tone and story.
David Tennant teases how each of Doctor Who‘s three 60th anniversary specials stand out from one another. Tennant will portray a new incarnation of the series’ leading renegade Time Lord, who will be joined by returning companion actor Catherine Tate across the milestone celebrations. Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary consists of “The Star Beast,” “Wild Blue Yonder,” and “The Giggle.” The specials begin airing on November 25 and roll out over the subsequent weeks.
With the Doctor Who 60th anniversary kicking off soon, Tennant teased what audiences can expect across the three episodes during an appearance on the BBC talk show The One Show (via RadioTimes) alongside showrunner Russell T Davies.
"The third one is bananas!" 😂
David Tennant and @russelldavies63 on the @bbcdoctorwho 60th anniversary specials 🙌
Watch #TheOneShow live 👉 https://t.co/x772NSw5Hu#DoctorWho @bbcdoctorwho pic.twitter.com/2JUMShxy4w
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) November 20, 2023
The actor teased that while “The Star Beast” is the kind of story viewers may expect from the show, both “Wild Blue Yonder” and “The Giggle” would be unlike anything else, with Tennant describing the latter as “bananas.” Check out Tennant’s full response below:
“Three Saturdays in a row. Doctor Who lives on a Saturday, I think. Yes, they’re very different. Each one is really quite unique. The first one is the sort of world of Doctor Who that you’ll recognise, I think. The second one is unlike any episode of Doctor Who ever done before. And the third one is… bananas.”
Doctor Who’s 60th Anniversary Celebrates The Show’s Past & Charts Out Its Future
While the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials will celebrate the show’s long history, they will also help kick off what Davies has in store for the’ foreseeable future. In “The Star Beast” and “The Giggle,” the Fourteenth Doctor will face villains from the show’s past, including Beep the Meep (Miriam Margolyes) and the Wrarth Warriors. Meanwhile, “The Giggle” has Neil Patrick Harris’ The Toymaker take center stage to terrorize the Doctor and Earth. The character makes his long-awaited return for the first time since 1966’s “The Celestial Toymaker,” where Michael Gough portrayed him.
However, “Wild Blue Yonder” is currently shrouded in mystery, with only a handful of teases from Tennant, Davies, and other crew members describing the episode as something unlike anything the show has seen before. There have been few glimpses at the episode, save for a promotional poster revealing a short, rusty white robot will join the Doctor and Donna Noble. Doctor Who producers Phil Collinson and Vicki Delow teased that the episode captures what motivated Davies to return and lays out his intent for the new era.
Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary celebrations have already captivated audiences. Between returning stars and voices, there will be plenty of callbacks to previous years. At the same time, though, with Tennant teasing distinct stories that range from familiar to far-out firsts for the franchise, the 60th anniversary could help set a clear precedent for what the future of Doctor Who holds.
