Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged:

Doctor Who: Before Donna, Catherine Tate Had Her Own Sketch Show

Before she became internationally famous on Doctor Who, Catherine Tate had her own comedy series that made her a TV star - here's the pilot!

Published
by
|
Comments

Article Summary

  • Catherine Tate starred in her own UK sketch show before Doctor Who fame.
  • The Catherine Tate Show features iconic characters like Nan and Lauren Cooper.
  • Her role as Donna Noble on Doctor Who was tailor-made by Russell T. Davies.
  • Tate's Doctor Who stint helps ensure her lasting legacy in pop culture.

Years before she became internationally known as Donna Noble on Doctor Who, Catherine Tate was already a TV star in the UK with her own comedy sketch show called The Catherine Tate Show. Here's your chance to watch the original pilot of the hit series, courtesy of the BBC Studios channel on YouTube.

Doctor Who: Let's Celebrate Catherine Tate as Donna, the MVP Companion
Catherine Tate in "Doctor Who" still: BBC

Before Doctor Who, Catherine Tate Was Already a TV Star

Tate is a classically trained actress who started with bit parts in British TV series and doing stand-up comedy before landing roles in various comedy series and sketch shows before she got The Catherine Tate Show greenlit, where she co-wrote and acted in every scene in the show. She created several recurring comedy characters that became household names, such as Nan, a horribly foul-mouthed and mean old granny, and Lauren Cooper, a mouthy, snarky high school girl. This is why when Russell T. Davies cast her as Donna Noble for the first time in the 2006 Doctor Who Christmas Special "The Runaway Bride," it was considered a big get with a major guest star. When she agreed to return to Doctor Who as a regular playing Donna, it was a big deal as Donna became a fan favourite companion, the only one who didn't moon romantically over the Doctor, and he treated her as an equal. Their friendship was the most adult in the series. You could see that Davies wrote the role of Donna specifically for her based on her range and some of the bolshy characters she played on her own show. Tate joked that appearing on Doctor Who pretty much sorted out her pension since she would be invited to conventions for the rest of her life, and she was absolutely right.

Even now when fans recall her fondly from Doctor Who, there was always The Catherine Tate Show first. She never went away, including the crossovers with James Bond and the Doctor during Children in Need Red Nose Day.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!

Adi TantimedhAbout Adi Tantimedh

Adi Tantimedh is a filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote radio plays for the BBC Radio, “JLA: Age of Wonder” for DC Comics, “Blackshirt” for Moonstone Books, and “La Muse” for Big Head Press. Most recently, he wrote “Her Nightly Embrace”, “Her Beautiful Monster” and “Her Fugitive Heart”, a trilogy of novels featuring a British-Indian private eye published by Atria Books, a division Simon & Schuster.
twitter
Comments will load 20 seconds after page. Click here to load them now.