It’s been a while since we learned that David Tennant would be returning alongside Catherine Tate for the 60th anniversary special of Doctor Who, but the very thought still drives us over the edge with excitement.
After all, it’s been nearly ten years since the 10th Doctor shared the screen with his successor in The Day of the Doctor, not to mention that the way the story concluded made it seem like a definitively final outing for the hero. But this is Doctor Who that we’re talking about, and as far as the 10th Doctor is concerned, the laws of time are his, and they will obey him.
In all seriousness, though, the last time Donna and the Doctor were together, he had to wipe her memories and leave to save her mind from breaking apart. That’s only one of the reasons you can’t just bring the two of them back together again without causing continuity issues, which is why a lot of Whovians are wondering how Russell T. Davies will go about resurrecting the two for his anticipated return.
Well, Davies has decided to address some of these fan concerns in the latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine (per RadioTimes), theorizing about all the wibbly wobbly timey-wimey ways the 10th Doctor could make a comeback.
“A mysteriously forgotten excursion for the TARDIS in between Planet of the Ood and Sontaran Stratagem? Or maybe a multiverse thing, they’re all the rage these days. Maybe this is the Doctor and Donna from Universe 557, all set to collide with our own.”
Fair enough, Russell, but how would you —
“Then again, maybe, just maybe, this return is so impossible that it’s actually an intricate illusion created by an old enemy of the Doctor’s. Or maybe an old enemy of Donna’s. Nerys! Of course, I wouldn’t give that away in the pages of DWM, would I? But then again, this magazine is the first place I ever revealed the name of Billie Piper’s Rose (in issue 340). So read carefully. There are truths in here.”
I guess we’re just going to have to wait for the 60th-anniversary special itself, lest we risk a terrible nerd headache pondering all the possibilities. The episode is set to arrive on Nov. 23, 2023.
