Doctor Who boss teases “violent” and “scary” 60th anniversary specials

Later this month, Doctor Who will make a triumphant return to our screens, and this season is particularly exciting. Russell T. Davies, who oversaw the revival of the series in 2005, has returned to write the trio of 60th anniversary specials, which will feature the return of David Tennant as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as his companion Donna Noble. But don’t be fooled, these specials won’t indulge in nostalgia; this is the Doctor’s biggest challenge yet!

The upcoming specials, which feature Neil Patrick Harris as the malevolent Toymaker, will be both violent and scary, with scenes that toe on the line between adult and children’s storytelling.

Previous Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat called Doctor Who a children’s show. Davies sees it differently. He believes Doctor Who is not strictly a children’s show, though it is written with the idea that kids will be watching. “I think at the heart of it … it is not a children’s show but I think at the heart of it is an eight year old watching, I think it’s always that. We think of that when we are in the edits,” he told The Telegraph.

"And do you know there is some very scary stuff, some is stuff is violent, it’s not for children but it is about children – it’s about a child’s imagination."

Davies has a lot of respect within the Whoniverse fandom. When he talks, we listen. And I think he’s right. It would be unjust to place Doctor Who into one demographic. It transcends generations. It’s a family show that is targeted towards everyone, not just children.

Each of the three Doctor Who specials has a different feel

As for the 60th-anniversary specials specifically, Davies teases that each episode has a unique tone. “It [first special] is like a great big Pixar family film, like a bank holiday film – all the family watching, lots of laughs, a funny monster,” he said. “The second one, Wild Blue Yonder, is darker. Not scary – it’s genuinely weird.”

The finale, which paves the way for Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, is “completely mad, frightening” and genuinely scary: “That one will scare you,” Davies said.

Nicola Coughlan has been cast in Doctor Who! 

After the specials air, the Doctor Who franchise will undergo something of a soft reboot, not unlike the ‘New Who’ era Russell T. Davies started back in 2005. The new season will be headlined by Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, alongside Millie Gibson as companion Ruby Sunday.

The upcoming series has already got some big names involved, including award-winning Hamilton star Jonathan Groff. And now Davies has confirmed that Irish actress Nicola Coughlan has joined the cast. However, the Derry Girls and Bridgerton actress won’t appear until next year. “Nicola Coughlan at Christmas — not this Christmas, next Christmas,” Davies revealed.

Doctor Who returns on November 25. The three specials will air weekly on BBC One in the UK, and on Disney+ for international viewers.

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