Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, Preview, Trailer, TV | Tagged: bbc, catherine tate, david tennant, disney plus, doctor who, Millie Gibson, Ncuti Gatwa, preview, russell t davies

Doctor Who: #WhoSpy Returns with Behind-the-Scenes Image Teaser

As we inch closer to the 60th anniversary event in November, Doctor Who #WhoSpy is back with an interesting behind-the-scenes image teaser.

When it comes to what Showrunner Russell T. Davies has in store for the future of the BBC & Disney+'s Doctor Who, the marketing machine has been picking up steam over the past few weeks. In the newest edition of Doctor Who Monthly, RTD offers new intel on David Tennant (Fourteenth Doctor) & Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) returning for the three-episode 60th-anniversary event. as well as Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteenth Doctor) & Millie Gibson's (Ruby Sunday) upcoming new series of adventures. Following that, we were treated to a preview of the show's new theme – courtesy of Murray Gold and Segun Akinola, performed by BBC National Orchestra in Cardiff's Hoddinott Hall (with the clip from BBC Sounds' Doctor Who @ 60: A Musical Celebration). Now, #WhoSpy is back with another teaser image – but there are two big differences this time. First, it came through "The Subwave Network" on the Doctor Who Instagram account – and not the usual "social media suspects." Second, this image is actually a behind-the-scenes look – meaning you have a clapperboard and a whole lot of other details to look over with a magnifying glass (metaphorically speaking – though looking at it through an actual magnifying glass would be pretty cool in a "Sherlock Holmes"-kinda way:

Joining Tennant & Tate for the anniversary episodes 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 posthumously appear, reprising his role as Wilfred Mott. 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. 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).

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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