The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special is well into production now and, as expected, showrunner Steven Moffat is being very tight-lipped about what fans should expect. That being said, there has been much speculation about the plot and which Doctors and villains will be showing up. So far, we know that the Zygons will be included and that David Tennant’s 10th Doctor and his seminal companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) will make an appearance as well.
Now, thanks to a photo snapped by a fan (which you can see below), we know that Tennant and the current Doctor, played by Matt Smith, will indeed be interacting in the special and that the TARDIS design from Tennant’s run on the show will be used here. This refers to the TARDIS exterior – only slightly different in its 10th Doctor-era incarnation versus the 11th – but given that we saw the interior from the 9th/10th Doctor era last season in the Neil Gaiman-penned episode “The Doctor’s Wife,” we may be seeing multiple generations of TARDIS’ and Doctors during the special.
Also notice that Tennant is dressed in his iconic original costume, an image that is sure to send waves of nostalgia through fans of the revived series. This image does not clarify which version of the 10th Doctor Tennant will be playing – the fourth series of the revived show ended with a clone of the Doctor going to live with Rose in an alternate universe, which would be the easiest way for Moffat to incorporate Tennant – but the presence of his specific TARDIS design indicates this might be the actual 10th Doctor, plucked out of time to hang out with his future self. There is plenty of precedence for this of course.
The 10th Doctor himself met the 5th Doctor, Peter Davison, in a Children in Need special, which was a real treat, and Doctors of different eras have teamed up in previous anniversary specials during the original run of the series.
What do you think of this photo? Do you have any theories about the presence of the 10th Doctor? And how excited are you for the 50th Anniversary special of Doctor Who in general? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
