Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, Preview, Trailer, TV | Tagged: bbc, doctor who, iplayer, russell t davies, Whoniverse

Doctor Who: BBC Video Officially Welcomes You to The "Whoniverse"

It was made official on Monday, but now the BBC has rolled out an announcement video welcoming Doctor Who fans to the "Whoniverse."

Though the fans and Showrunner Russell T. Davies have been referring to Doctor Who and all of its spinoff projects by this name for some time, it became official earlier this week. With BBC iPlayer about to be the home for the show in a very big way (in the U.K. & Ireland) and Disney+ kicking off its streaming of new content later this month, Monday brought the news that all episodes, spinoffs, and every other piece of content related to the long-running show would now be covered under the banner of the "Whoniverse." Davies had this to say at the time: "The word 'Whoniverse' was invented by fans, so it's time to give it official status. And 'Tales of the TARDIS' is one of the greatest delights of my career – to see old Doctors and companions reunited, still fighting the good fight, is a perfect way to celebrate the Doctor's 60th birthday!" Now, we're getting an announcement teaser to make the news even more official – and also offer us a look at the logo.

Here's a look at the official trailer for the "Whoniverse" that was rolled out earlier today – followed by a look at what we know so far about November's big celebration:

Joining David Tennant (Fourteenth Doctor) & Catherine Tate (Donna Noble ) for the three-episode 60th-anniversary Doctor Who special event are Neil Patrick Harris in the big bad role as the Toymaker and Yasmin Finney as Rose – the daughter of Donna Noble and Shaun Temple (Karl Collins), with Jacqueline King returning as Sylvia Noble. In addition, Ruth Madeley is set to appear as Shirley Anne Bingham, and Bernard Cribbins is set to appear, reprising his role as Wilfred Mott posthumously. Fans of the comics can expect to see Beep the Meep (voiced by Miriam Margolyes) and the Wrarth Warriors play a major part, and – as if all of that wasn't enough – Ncuti Gatwa is expected to debut as the Fifteenth Doctor. And let's not forget that Jemma Redgrave will be returning as UNIT head Kate (Lethbridge-) Stewart. Now, here's a look at the episode posters released for the anniversary event:

Now, here's a look back at the official trailer for the upcoming three-episode special event – with "The Star Beast" hitting on November 25th (followed by "Wild Blue Yonder" on December 2nd and "The Giggle" on December 9th) – followed by a look at the trailer released by Disney+:

With all three episodes written by Davies, we learned the episode titles during this weekend's Eurovision 2023 broadcast: Special One: "The Star Beast" (directed by Rachel Talalay), Special Two: "Wild Blue Yonder" (directed by Tom Kingsley), and Special Three': "The Giggle" (directed by Chanya Button). Here's a look back to when that all became official:

Button, Kingsley & Talalay on Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Episodes

Directors Button, Kingsley & Talalay shared their reactions to first reading Davies's scripts with Doctor Who Magazine. "Each special has a really different flavour. It feels like Russell [T. Davies] flexing his muscles and showing all the different things 'Doctor Who' can do," Kingsley shared – a sentiment shared by all three directors. Here's a look at some of the highlights:

Kingsley Discusses "Absolute Nightmare" Episode, Teases "Aliens" & "The Thing" Comparison: "I opened mine and just tore through it. Even as a reading experience, it was so exciting. But I kind of got to the end of it and thought, 'Well, I pity whoever has to direct that cos it's an absolute nightmare!' I was planning to email my agent the next day and say, "It's amazing, but… no way." But when I woke up the next morning, I was still thinking about it, and I started to figure out: 'Well, how could you actually do this?' Because a lot of my episode is quite weird. Even at the readthrough, Rachel, your episode went down so well, and I was really jealous of you getting to direct it. Because there are so many complicated stage directions in mine, the reaction in the room was a bit like, 'Um, sorry, what?' Which made me think it was going to be a disaster. But of course, when you come to film it, it's actually really cool. It's got a lot of similarities with two of my favourite films, 'Aliens' and 'The Thing.' It's a little bit of the DNA of those mixed in with 'Doctor Who.'"

Talalay Read All Three, Outlines Some Key Differences Between Them: "I read all three, and my first reaction was, 'Wow!' The first one is classic family 'Who.' It's bringing back that world that Russell left [in 2010] with David and Catherine. And then after that, it becomes much more expansive, with Russell really throwing his massive imagination at it while also being thoughtful about setting up the next series.

Talalay's Episode Allowed Director a Chance to Embrace "The Stuff That Scares You": "My episode features lots of people in lots of scenes. There's soldiers, there's battles, and I thought, 'I haven't always succeeded in doing the action stuff, with loads of extras, that well in the past. This is really scary for me.' So I was determined to do that part really, really well. It's all about embracing the stuff that scares you."

Button's Episode "Was Just the Most Expansive Thing" That the Director Has Ever Read: "It was just the most expansive thing I've ever read. Every page I turned, it was a different world and a different idea and a different sort of bonkers and inspiring adventure. It was just the ultimate luxury to read it and go, 'This is a writer at the very peak of his abilities, completely unbound and confident in what he's putting on the page.' Which, as a director, is really empowering. It's challenging, in the most positive way possible, for someone to go: 'Here's a big idea; let's see how you do it.'"

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