Catherine Tate played one of the most popular Doctor Who companions of all time during the David Tennant era and, despite it being almost a decade since she was last on the sci-fi series, the actress says she’d be up for a return as feisty, motormouthed temp Donna Noble.
Tate, who’s also known for appearing in the later seasons of The Office, spoke about the series during an interview on The Jason Manford Show on Absolute Radio. When asked if she’d like to make a comeback opposite Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor, Tate replied that she would – though the comedian also made a joke out of it.
“It wouldn’t be up to me because you can’t just turn up on the set uninvited. They don’t like it. But that would be nice. I haven’t tried. Probably all the security would still remember me.”
Despite having said she’d like to show up again in the TARDIS, Tate went on to admit that she’s not yet up to date with the latest run of the series that introduced Whittaker as the newest incarnation of the Time Lord.
“I haven’t yet, only because I won’t understand them and it makes me feel inferior. But I know she’s brilliant because she’s fantastic.”
Tate is notorious with fans for her lack of Doctor Who knowledge, having never properly watched the revived show before she was cast opposite David Tennant. The actress explained to Manford that she had caught one episode, but the 1980s setting led her to believe it had terrible production values.
“I’d not watched any of it. In fact, funnily enough the only episode I’d actually caught was when it had gone back to the 80s. So it was like a period piece, but I didn’t know that. I had turned it on and thought it’s exactly the same, the production values haven’t changed, it’s exactly the same as when I used to watch it. This is shocking!”
Finally, Tate finished up by saying how much she loved her time on Doctor Who and how it opened new doors in her career. However, she admits that she still doesn’t really understand the show or even what her character went through.
“It was a real game changer actually in my life, Doctor Who, because I got to meet these wonderful people and other things came of it. I absolutely loved it. It doesn’t make me a sci-fi aficionado, I still don’t know what goes on, and I wasn’t quite aware of what was going on to me.”
What Donna went through was actually one of the most tragic endings for a Doctor Who companion ever. Essentially, to save her life, the Doctor had to wipe his friend’s memories of all their time together and return her to her old life on Earth. The last time we saw her, Donna had gotten married and the Doctor gave her the gift of a winning lottery ticket. She may have had a happy ending, then, but there’s definitely the potential to wrap up her story on a better note – maybe give her her memories back – if showrunner Chris Chibnall wanted to go there.
Published: Jan 15, 2019 03:59 pm