Over the weekend, we got confirmation of our reporting from January – that David Tennant and Catherine Tate would be returning to Doctor Who. Today, new Doctor Who set photos have emerged of filming from Camden in London that reportedly feature both characters.
David Tennant, clad in a dark overcoat, was spotted in the scenes with a female character that looked a lot like Tate. Check out the photos below!
So it begins… (photos from Whovian Fanbase) @bbcdoctorwho #DavidTennant #CatherineTate pic.twitter.com/uOLIbM5BQ0
— Lady Whistledown TP (@DanielDutson) May 16, 2022
Along with the series of photos, there is a short video, showing Tennant walking into a building, but stopping and turning his head towards something out of shot, with a huge smile on his face. As pointed out in the Tweet below, filming is currently taking place in Camden, a location where Doctor Who has filmed previously. Check out the video below!
AS FILMAGENS COMEÇARAM!!!
A Bad Wolf foi vista gravando cenas em Camden e David Tennant e Catherine Tate foram vistos lá.
E Tennant estava TRAJADO DE 10TH e SEM FRANJA EMO!!#DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/COO3Jj5IMT
— Culto de Skaro (@cultode_skaro) May 16, 2022
Just when we thought the feast may be ending from today’s set, another photo found its way onto Twitter showing yet another face returning to the mix. It looks like Donna’s grandfather, lovable Wilfred (Bernard Cribbins) is also coming back for this reunion! Check out the photo and video below! The latter shows Wilfred and the Doctor in action!
MEGA SPOLIER#.
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Wilf’s back #dwsr pic.twitter.com/U7rITBH5tl— pEDRO (@PHampford) May 16, 2022
#DWSR WILF SPOTTED pic.twitter.com/KufS9ZCQa7
— la¡na ⎕ 🦷 (@andrews_films) May 16, 2022
One final set of photos shows director Rachael Talalay on set. Talalay has a history with Doctor Who and previously worked on the series under Steven Moffat. Her credits are “Dark Water” and “Death in Heaven” from series eight, “Heaven Sent” and “Hell Bent” in series nine, “World Enough and Time” and “The Doctor Falls,” and the Christmas Special “Twice upon a Time.”
Rachel Talalay #dwsr pic.twitter.com/k1uhKUU5wq
— pEDRO (@PHampford) May 16, 2022
Since the announcement of their return – and with the new and fourteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, there has been speculation about where the stories could go for the time-traveling Doctor. Beloved Russell T. Davies recently returned to the series and has been teasing recent filming on Instagram.
Time and story hints in these new Doctor Who set photos
Sometimes it can be hard to decipher a story when you’re just looking at set photos. However, today’s new images and video provide some interesting clues that hint at the potential story and timeline of the duo’s return.
First, let’s look at the most obvious clue. The scene appears to take place in and around a shop called Modfather. A little sleuthing turns up that this is in front of The Modfather Clothing Co Ltd. A clothing shop isn’t fascinating, but Modfather was not founded until 2012 – four years after Tate’s Donna Noble had her memory wiped. Doctor Who fans will recall that if Noble were to remember any of her adventures with Doctor Who after the memory wipe, she would die. Whatever happened to bring the two back together certainly teases intrigue.
While this new footage isn’t the first time Tennant has returned to Doctor Who, with a previous appearance as the Tenth Doctor during the 50th anniversary, this would be Tate’s first time returning as Donna. Doctor Who has a long history of bringing back previous Doctors and Companions, with the upcoming final special for Jodie Whittaker seeing the return of Janet Fielding as Tegan Jovanka and Sophie Aldred as Ace. Hopefully, more announcements and returns for the 60th special happen sometime soon, especially now that filming has begun! I know my co-writer for this article Brian is keeping his fingers crossed for a Matt Smith return.
An eagle-eyed Twitter user also noticed something special in the set photos. The Tardis used in the set photos belongs to Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor. Whittaker is the Thirteenth Doctor and will reportedly make her last appearance in autumn of 2022, according to a promo at the end of the recent Easter special, “Legend of the Sea Devils.” The use of this Tardis again raises questions about where this filming is set in time. And this is not totally unprecedented – the two characters met up in Time Lord Victorious. An event that crossed comics, books, audio dramas, and even an escape room. the Thirteenth Doctor and the Tenth Doctor also met once before in a comic retelling of “Blink,” which introduced the Weeping Angels.
Additionally, this TARDIS is interesting because there were reports last year that Whittaker’s Tardis was dismantled. If you’re a fan of the show, you know there’s a tradition to have regeneration scenes on the Tardis set. Some speculated that the Fourteenth Doctor had probably already filmed scenes because of this tradition. Now, of course, the complete TARDIS set is on a soundstage somewhere and is more involved than a simple Tardis box that’s part of exterior set dressing. But if you’re a Who watcher, this still stirs up exciting questions.
Are you excited about David Tennant and Catherine Tate’s return to Doctor Who? Do you think we’re going to get a 60th-anniversary special? Who else would you like to see return? Please share your thoughts with us on Twitter @MyCosmicCircus.
Update 5/17: Just when you think you’ve reached the end of set photos from this current Doctor Who project filming, we get more! This time, the photos are from the Daily Mail online. A few show Tennant wheeling Wilfred in a chair, similar to the other photos up top. Some others show Tate walking onto the set, looking excited to be back as Donna Noble for another adventure. Check out those photos here!
Check out the trailer for Jodie Whittaker’s final episode!
