Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: david tennant, doctor who, Ncuti Gatwa

Doctor Who Day Brings 60th Anniv. Specials, Season 1 Deleted Scenes

In honor of Doctor Who Day, check out these deleted scenes from the 60th Anniversary Specials and Season 1 that were released.

With today being "Doctor Who Day," we've been waiting to see what we're going to get in celebration of the long-running series heading into Showrunner Russell T. Davies' Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteenth Doctor) and Millie Gibson (Ruby Sunday)-starring Steven Moffat-penned, and Nicola Coughlan-starring Christmas Special "Joy to the World" next month. Well, the BBC and Disney+ are delivering in a very big way, releasing over ten minutes of deleted scenes from the David Tennant and Catherine Tate-starring 60th-anniversary specials and the first season of the Gatwa era. But there's more…

Along with the deleted scenes, the BBC released a rundown of the scenes as well as some thoughts from RTD – all of which we have waiting for you below (followed by a look back at what we know about the Christmas Special so far):

THE GIGGLE

Scenes 9-10a: As UNIT welcomes the Doctor and Donna to their new HQ, Donna ensures that her family are protected from the dangers of the Giggle on the outside world.

Russell T Davies' Note: "Cut because it spoils that sweeping entrance, to stop and have a chat. And get to Mel faster!"

Scene 27: Doors, doors and more doors! The Doctor and Donna attempt to negotiate their way through the Toymaker's infinite and tricksome domain.

RTD Note: "Cut for time."

SPACE BABIES

Scene 16: Ruby shares her experience as an orphan with the Space Babies before being interrupted by an excitable Doctor on his way to Portal 357.

RTD Note: "Cut for time, which is a shame, Millie's wonderful here."

Scenes 40/42: "Into the belly of the beast…" The Doctor and Ruby navigate some daunting and increasingly bogey-filled corridors as they approach the Bogeyman's lair.

RTD Note: "Cut to get to the Bogeyman faster."

Scene 63: The Doctor and the Bogeyman recover from their airlock encounter, and the Doctor even checks on the Bogeyman's wellbeing – carefully, of course!

RTD Note: "Not needed, though a wide shot of this scene plays on the screens behind Jocelyn."

THE DEVIL'S CHORD

Scene 9a: After witnessing a miserable performance of 'Three Blind Mice', the Doctor declares, "Someone has stolen music!"

RTD Note: "Felt a bit psychic of the Doctor, how does he know it's stolen?"

Scene 23: Maestro, having just popped out of a rooftop piano, uses their cosmic tuning fork to track the location of the retreating Doctor and Ruby.

RTD Note: "Cut for time, get on with it!"

Scene 72: The Doctor and Ruby run back up the rooftop stairwell as music returns to the world.

RTD Note: "Cut because this explains what's about to happen. Just let it happen instead!"

Scene 74: A montage through some Londoners' windows as they rediscover music in their hearts.

RTD Note: "Nice idea, but not really needed."

73 YARDS

Scenes 3-4: With the Doctor suddenly missing, Ruby waits outside the TARDIS alone, with the mysterious Woman standing nearby…

RTD Note: "It's already a long, slow opening, get on with it!"

Scenes 53-54: The morning after her victory against Roger ap Gwilliam, 40 year-old Ruby runs to her window to find, sadly, that the Woman is still outside.

RTD Note: "Much more effective to cut on the earlier scene, as Ruby asks the Woman, 'Can you leave me alone now?'"

THE LEGEND OF RUBY SUNDAY

Scenes 41-44: An alternative sequence of the moment Harriet Arbinger heralds the return of Sutekh.

RTD Note: "All tightened, sharpened and pulled up."

EMPIRE OF DEATH

Scene 35: The Doctor, Ruby and Mel arrive in 2046. Shortly after they exit the Remembered TARDIS, it fades away; its purpose fulfilled.

RTD Note: "We lost this because I didn't want the Remembered TARDIS to die, I like the thought of it still out there somewhere."

Scenes 59-63: Ever wondered where the Doctor's TARDIS-controlling whistle came from? This timey-wimey sequence shows the Doctor programming the TARDIS to respond to the whistle's pitch, then using a hatch to pass the whistle back to his past self. Bit of a cheat, but as the Doctor says, "We're fighting a god – we get one trick once!"

RTD Note: "This seemed terribly complicated. But watching it again now, it's great, maybe we shouldn't have cut it. Though I don't think anyone wondered where he got his whistle from…?"

Doctor Who: The Road to "Joy to the World"

In November 2023, Coughlan checked in personally via video to let fans know that they can expect to see her in the 2024 Christmas Special as a guest star in the "Joy to the World":

"Happy New Year's Eve! And the point is – there, right behind us, that's one of the sets from the Christmas 2024 episode of Doctor Who! The future! Right there ♥️ But what terrible secrets does it hide..? (etc)," Davies wrote in an Instagram post on December 31, 2023, dropping one of the earliest clues to what's to come:

In March of this year, social media posts included screencaps of Producer Alison Sterling's CV that listed the 2024 Christmas Special – with Pillai directing and Moffat penning the script. Shortly after, the listing was removed – but not replaced with a "corrected" writer. During the Radio Times Covers Party that same month, Moffat looked to shut down the idea of his returning to the long-running series. "It would be career madness, even by my standard, to go back into a junior capacity on a show I used to run. I would have to be insane to do that!" Moffat added – eventually proving that he truly was insane by penning the Season 1 episode, "BOOM."

Two months later, Moffat confirmed to TV Choice that he was writing the Pillai-directed "Joy to the World" – which would be the writer and ex-showrunner's 50th Doctor Who script. "I should probably introduce that one from an armchair, 'Here we are — number 50,'" Moffat shared. "But I'm not involved in next year's series. There are other things coming for me, so I might never write for 'Doctor Who' again. As I got to the end of 'Joy to the World,' I did think, 'Is that it? My final moment?' So that could be my goodbye. Number 50? I'll take that."

Near the end of the video above (kicking in at around the 8:45 mark) offering a behind-the-scenes look at "Empire of Death," Davies notes, "Now the Doctor voyages forward, and guess what always happens to the Doctor every so often – Christmas! Here comes Christmas. I can't give away much more, but work has begun on it already, and it's mad; it's one of the maddest Christmas specials you'll ever see. It's epic; it goes to so many different places. And it's a great story of who the Doctor is when he's alone."

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