Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, Preview, TV, YouTube | Tagged: bbc, david tennant, doctor who, Ncuti Gatwa, russell t davies

Doctor Who Casting News: 2 Join Christmas Special; 2 Join Series 14

Gemma Arrowsmith , Mary Malone, Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy & Billy Brayshaw are going to be a part of the future of the BBC's Doctor Who.

As we're all more than well aware of at this point, this November sees the start of a new era for the BBC, Disney+, and Showrunner Russell T. Davies's Doctor Who. First, they're embracing the show's 60 years with a three-episode anniversary event that sees the return of David Tennant (as the Fourteenth Doctor) and Catherine Tate (Donna Nobel), as well as our Fifteenth Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa. From there, Davies & Gatwa will be joined by Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday) to begin a new run of adventures that kick off with a Christmas Special and then moves onto Series 14 in 2024. But now, thanks to EP Phil Collinson and Doctor Who Magazine #594, we have additional casting news to pass along for the post-anniversary holiday special and the next series of adventures. Gemma Arrowsmith (Gemma Arrowsmith Sketched Out) and Mary Malone (Vera, The Prince) will be coming aboard the Christmas Special – while Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy (Hollyoaks) and Billy Brayshaw (Still So Awkward) will be joining the Series 14 cast.

"The cast for our end-of-year special is continuing to grow. Though still with some names we haven't announced yet!..," Collinson shared in the magazine – before offering offering the names of some of the previously unnamed. "But it is a delight to welcome two more names on board, with Gemma Arrowsmith and Mary Malone… and you won't have to wait long to find out how they connect to the Doctor and Ruby Sunday." The EP continued, "Coming up after that, in the 2024 series, it's a delight to open the studio doors to a former star of 'Hollyoaks' with Majid Mehdizadeh-Valoujerdy. His character in [Hollyoaks], Kesse, died of alcohol poisoning on his wedding day, so let's hope he has a more peaceful time in the Whoniverse. Although I can't promise!" Collinson then added, "And, in a separate episode, we're delighted to say hello to Billy Brayshaw. And there are so more names to come!"

Joining Tennant and Tate for the anniversary episodes are Neil Patrick Harris in a big bad role (The Toymaker/The Celestial Toymaker?) & Yasmin Finney as the interestingly-named Rose (Hmmm…). Also, Jacqueline King & Karl Collins are returning as Sylvia Noble & Shaun Temple, respectively, Ruth Madeley is set to appear as Shirley Anne Bingham, and Bernard Cribbins is set to posthumously appear, reprising his role as Wilfred Mott. In addition, fans of the comics can expect to see Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors play a major part, and – as if all of that wasn't enough – Gatwa is expected to debut as the Fifteenth Doctor. 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 at the announcement video that was released to confirm the episode titles:

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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