David Tennant and Matt Smith to return to Doctor Who for 60th anniversary shows
DOCTOR Who fans have been whipped into a frenzy over who will replace Jodie Whittaker when she hands over the keys to the Tardis later this year.
But I can reveal her replacement will hardly appear in the show when it returns in 2023.
Instead, it is set to play host to a string of former time lords in a series of specials marking the series’ 60th birthday.
As the rumour mill has already suggested, that’s likely to see Jodie pass the baton to David Tennant, but it could also see a comeback by Matt Smith, Christopher Eccleston and Peter Capaldi.
It’s a dream scenario for megafan and showrunner Russell T Davies, who clearly wants a repeat of 1983’s feature-length 20th anniversary special, The Five Doctors – which starred a quintet of ex-time lords.
A TV insider said: “The BBC wanted something unique to mark six decades of Doctor Who and while getting all the former time lords together will be a challenge, it’s one Russell might just achieve.
“After all, he was the man responsible for signing up Christopher and David back in 2005, and he is one of the few people who might convince them to be a part of the show again.
“It remains to be seen if he can achieve an exact copy of The Five Doctors, but he will certainly want to capture some of the spirit of that landmark episode in these specials.”
The Five Doctors starred Richard HurndallI (standing in for the late William Hartnell) as the first doctor, Patrick Troughton as the second, Jon Pertwee as the third doctor, Tom Baker as number four and Peter Davison as the fifth.
They were brought back together – along with some of their most bitter enemies – when their timelines were disrupted and dragged back to the time lord’s home planet of Gallifrey.
I really hope Russell can get the five more recent doctors back together – it would send Whovians around the world into a frenzy of excitement.
BBC’S PRIDE AND GORY
WHEN Squid Game shocked the world last year, the BBC’s drama boss Piers Wenger said he had a project in the pipeline which could compete with the blood-spattered Netflix sensation.
That was BBC Three comedy thriller Wrecked, currently filming in Northern Ireland and due to air later this year.
And as this exclusive image proves, Piers wasn’t exaggerating.
The series mixes laughs with slasher movie quirks as central character Jamie, played by Oscar Kennedy, pretends to be a crew member on board The Sacramentum cruise ship.
In the show, which also stars Noughts+Crosses leading man Jack Rowan and Curfew’s Thaddea Graham, Jamie goes in search of his missing sister.
But he comes across a series of gruesome murders.
And there was me thinking these characters had got bloodied fighting over the ship’s all-you-can-eat buffet.
Bizbit
CHANNEL 5 said cancelling its contract with Neighbours would mean they could fund more original dramas.
And sure enough, it’s now announced two new shows – Desperate Measures and The Winter Child, which are both set to air this year
JOE HAS CAINE-DO ATTITUDE
I CAN think of easier jobs than following Michael Caine – particularly in one of his most famous roles.
So I was rooting for Joe Cole when he took on soldier-turned-spy Harry Palmer for ITV’s remake of The Ipcress File.
Caine played the part across five films, based on the books by Len Deighton.
But it turns out Joe had a plan to make this version of Palmer his own.
Joe told Radio Times: “In the books the character is unnamed, but he’s from Burnley.
“My grandad was from that part of the world so I wanted to take it away from Caine as much as possible and channel my grandad and go back to the roots of the book.
“You’re never going to outdo Caine, so why not go back to the source material?”
Canny lad.
NEW DOC SHOW IN ITS PRIME
WHEN Holby City leaves our screens next month after 23 years, the BBC has a fitting replacement – Doctors.
The lunchtime soap has been promoted to primetime, and no one is more delighted than Sarah Moyle, who plays the surgery’s receptionist Valerie.
She told me: “Primetime is our new favourite phrase, no matter what happens we’re like: ‘Yeah we’re primetime!’
“I don’t think it’ll change anything about the show. What we have is unique, it’s quirky and it’s different but hopefully it’ll be something new.”
Co-star Dex Lee, who plays practice manager Bear, added: “That’s our selling point, we’re going to double down on that quirkiness and hopefully our new audience will love it as much as we love doing it.”
From March 7 Doctors will air at lunchtime and then be repeated each day on BBC2 at 7pm, Monday to Thursday.
Bizbit
THE One Show presenter Angela Scanlon has confirmed the arrival of her second child – after teasing that she’d given birth earlier this month.
She told her 238,000 Instagram followers yesterday afternoon that she’d had a daughter with her husband Roy Horgan.
JILL GETS CHILL ON HOLIDAY
IT’S hard to think of a busier actress than Jill Halfpenny, who has starred in everything from Corrie to Waterloo Road.
So you’d think filming in Malta for her new Channel 5 thriller The Holiday would have offered a welcome break.
But Jill says cold winds and insect bites made it tough shooting the show, which also stars Killing Eve’s Owen McDonnell.
She said: “It was bloody freezing. We were in like bikini tops and little sarongs. The midges loved me.
“By the last week of filming it took five minutes to do my face, and 20 minutes to fill in the bites on my legs.”
Watch Jill shiver when the show airs tonight at 9pm.