This Is Not A Drill: David Tennant And Billie Piper Are In The Doctor Who Anniversary Special

Officially Official

Jill Pantozzi

Published: Mar 30, 2013 11:35 am

This article is over 11 years old and may contain outdated information

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I woke up this morning to an email from BBC America in my inbox and now…I’m happy…I’m so happy.

From BBC America’s lips to your eyes, “David Tennant and Billie Piper will join current Doctor and companion, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman, while John Hurt will also co-star.”

Pause for a moment of KERMIT FLAIL. (Skip ahead for my real-time reaction to the news in GIF form.)

Tennant had been teasing Doctor Who fans for a while about his involvement in the anniversary. Back in August of last year he mentioned he still had his famous pinstripe suit he could pull out at any time. Then in January of this year he talked about a representative from the BBC telling him not to say about the 50th Anniversary on The Jonathan Ross Show. The implication being, he had something to tell. And as of her appearance on The Graham Norton show that same month, Piper denied being asked to participate.

But forget all that, they’re definitely in.

Last seen as the Doctor on January 1, 2010, this will be the first time Tennant has reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor. During his reign as the Time Lord, Tennant appeared in three series as well as several specials. He was first revealed as the Doctor in the 2005 series finale, The Parting of the Ways.

Meanwhile Billie Piper, who played companion Rose Tyler for two series following the reboot in 2005, will appear in the show for the first time since featuring in Tennant’s last episode, The End of Time in 2010.

Also confirmed to join the cast is John Hurt who will also co-star in the anniversary special that will form part of blockbuster celebrations. Produced by BBC Cymru Wales for BBC One, the 50th anniversary will be written by Steven Moffat and directed by Nick Hurran.

Filming for the anniversary starts this week and of course you can watch an all-new episode of Doctor Who on BBC America tonight at 8:00pm ET/PT.

And now for the GIF portion of our programming…

[slideshow id=533]

Previously in Doctor Who

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Author

Jill Pantozzi

Jill Pantozzi is a pop-culture journalist and host who writes about all things nerdy and beyond! She’s Editor in Chief of the geek girl culture site The Mary Sue (Abrams Media Network), and hosts her own blog “Has Boobs, Reads Comics” (TheNerdyBird.com). She co-hosts the Crazy Sexy Geeks podcast along with superhero historian Alan Kistler, contributed to a book of essays titled “Chicks Read Comics,” (Mad Norwegian Press) and had her first comic book story in the IDW anthology, “Womanthology.” In 2012, she was featured on National Geographic’s "Comic Store Heroes," a documentary on the lives of comic book fans and the following year she was one of many Batman fans profiled in the documentary, "Legends of the Knight."