The Doctor Who franchise is in a great place right now. Last year, David Tennant returned for a trio of 60th anniversary specials, paving the way for Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor. And in May, Gatwa will begin his own adventure (with a higher budget than ever before, now that Disney is involved).
The new series, written by returning showrunner Russell T. Davies, is being treated as a soft reboot and the perfect jumping-on point for newcomers to the Whoniverse. Disney+ has even marked the new season as 'season 1,' not season 14. Given the reboot, it seems less likely that we'll see classic Doctors return to our screens for cameos. Peter Capaldi has already ruled himself out.
"No," he told Forbes, but that's not to say he's fallen out of love this the Whoniverse. “I'm a long-standing Doctor Who fan from being a kid."
He likes to think his Doctor still lives on out there in the universe somewhere. "I like the idea that my Doctor is still out there. He's not available to come and be on television. The real Doctor is not on TV, the real Doctor is out there.”
Peter Capaldi "enjoyed" the Doctor Who 60th-anniversary specials
David Tennant's shock return for the 60th anniversary specials went down brilliantly among fans, perfectly wrapping up a long-running storyline and putting to rest an era of the Whoniverse. Capaldi very much enjoyed the specials:
"I enjoyed it. I thought it was great and a lot of fun. It was wonderful, exuberant, and full of life, drama, and monsters. David was wonderful, and Catherine Tate, of course. It's Doctor Who, you know, it's a gas and a good thing in the world. It's a nice, fun, exciting thing."
Moreover, he's been impressed by what he've seen of new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa, so far. "I look forward to the rest of the specials and Ncuti Gatwa coming along," Capaldi said. "I've met him, and he's very inspiring and charming."
Ncuti Gatwa returns for his new season of Doctor Who in May.
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