Doctor Who fans may not be getting a Christmas Special this year, but they have been given a festive treat with a special first look at the 3-part 60th anniversary special which sees the return of David Tennant and Catherine Tate, as well the introduction of Ncuti Gatwa as the fifteenth Doctor and Neil Patrick Harris as the special’s antagonist. Check out the first trailer below.

Doctor Who has been going through a rough patch recently, with many viewers having not been on board with the last incarnation, Jodie Whittaker, or showrunner Chris Chibnall for one reason or another. Now the old regime is over and Russell T. Davies is back at the helm, along with Tennant, to try and deliver a bombastic 60th anniversary celebration before ushering in the brand-new fifteenth incarnation of the character in the form of Sex Education’s Gatwa.

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Russell T. Davies is no stranger to big stories and budget-blowing spectacles, having ushered Doctor Who back to screens in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston, and then Tennant, who immediately rose up the ranks of the greatest Doctors of all time. Davies previously teased the three new special episodes:

“If you thought the appearance of David Tennant was a shock, we’ve got plenty more surprises on the way! The path to Ncuti’s [Gatwa] Fifteenth Doctor is laden with mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun! And how is it connected to the return of the wonderful Donna Noble? How, what, why? We’re giving you a year to speculate, and then all hell lets loose!”

Who Will Appear in the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials?

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While there has not been a full cast list revealed for the 60th anniversary specials, we already know that Tennant is back as the fourteenth Doctor, and he will be joined by Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble, as well as Donna’s granddad and another companion from his previous run, Wilfred Mott, played by the late Bernard Cribbins. Also returning is Jacqueline King as Donna’s mother Sylvia. Newcomer Yasmin Finney will play a new character with a familiar name to fans of the show; Rose. And then of course there is Harris as the villain of piece.

Outside of this, Doctor Who has been well known for incorporating older versions of the Doctor into its story, with Tom Baker appearing in the 50th anniversary episode when he prophetically told the current Doctor that perhaps there would come a time when he “might like to return to one of his old faces.” While at the time no one saw it coming, it seems like that is exactly what has happened with the return of Tennant. That means that there is very little off-limits in this particular sandbox, and the hardest part is going to be having to wait for the specials to air late in 2023.

Expect to find out much more about the Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials as we head into next year.