Davina McCall will appear in the ‘Doctor Who’ Christmas special.
Davina McCall is to star in the Doctor Who Christmas special
The 55-year-old presenter will play herself alongside the new Time Lord -played by ‘Sex Education’ star Ncuti Gatwa, 30 - as she helps his new assistant Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) track down her family on a programme similar to her ITV1 genealogy show ‘Long Lost Family’.
A telly insider told the Sun newspaper’s Bizarre Showbiz column: “The Christmas special is a huge deal for the BBC — this year especially so, as it’s Ncuti and Millie’s first.
“The Davina storyline is one element of the big festive episode on the table.”
The news of Davina’s casting comes after script editor Scott Handcock teasing that “a guest star from 2005” would reprise their role.
The source added: “As well as Davina, other guest stars from 2005 included Simon Callow and Annette Badland but Simon Pegg’s character could fit nicely alongside Davina’s role.”
Ncuti will assume the legendary role in the 60th anniversary celebration from David Tennant, 52, who is coming back to the role alongside Catherine Tate, 53, after the departure of Jodie Whittaker, 41.
The ‘Barbie’ star - whose debut on the show will begin airing in Spring 2024 - revealed that his spin of the iconic character is “emotionally vulnerable”.
Ncuti told Rolling Stone magazine: “My Doctor is emotionally vulnerable. He hides it with humour, but he’s lonely. I can’t say much more than that; I don’t want to spoil anything. But he’s also energetic! The poor cameramen struggled to keep up.”
“I fell in love with it. When you watch it, you forget all your troubles. You go to space, or to another time. You have adventures.”
In October last year, Russell T Davies, the newly reappointed showrunner teased “plenty more surprises” in the run-up to his debut.
He told the Sun newspaper: “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 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!”
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