David Tennant first took on Doctor Who's lead role in 2005 and stuck around as the Tenth Doctor until 2010. Matt Smith followed, though the Ahsoka star returned for the 50th anniversary episode, The Day of The Doctor, in 2013.
When Jodie Whittaker signed off as the Doctor last year, Tennant made his shock return, this time as the Fourteenth Doctor. What that means for the time-traveller remains to be seen, though we'll find out across the course of Russell T. Davies' three 60th anniversary specials this November and December.
Talking to SFX, Tennant made it clear this isn't necessarily the end for him and that he isn't writing off yet another Doctor Who return somewhere down the line.
"I think it would be disingenuous to imagine that I might never be asked again because history would indicate that it was always a possibility," the actor says. "So, I’m not going to say never because I don’t think anyone would believe me. That doesn’t mean I know that I ever will. But I suppose until I can’t run down a corridor it’s always a possibility. But I promise to have no plans."
When the publication pointed out that Sir Patrick Stewart is still playing Star Trek's Jean-Luc Picard at 82, Tennant responded, "Maybe that should be my goal, to have one last outing as The Doctor at 82. I've got 30 years to wait..."
The three Doctor Who specials, titled "The Star Beast" (November 25), "Wild Blue Yonder" (December 2) and "The Giggle "(December 9) will reunite the Fourteenth Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Temple-Noble (Catherine Tate) as they come face-to-face with their most terrifying villain yet: the Toymaker (played by Neil Patrick Harris in his Doctor Who debut).
Other confirmed cast members include Yasmin Finney as Rose Temple-Noble, Miriam Margolyes as the voice of the Meep and Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne Bingham, as well as returning characters Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble, Karl Collins as Shaun Temple, and Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart.
The 60th-anniversary specials are written by Russell T. Davies and directed by Rachel Talalay, Tom Kingsley, and Chanya Button, respectively.
Ncuti Gatwa takes control of the TARDIS as the Fifteenth Doctor over the festive period and the new season of Doctor Who will stream globally in 2024 on Disney+ and on the BBC in the UK and Ireland.
Check out a new still and magazine cover below.