The newly released trailer for the 60th Anniversary episodes of Doctor Who have revealed that Neil Patrick-Harris will play the villain last seen in 1966 episode “The Celestial Toymaker.”
Fresh from the second series of Good Omens, David Tennant will be returning to Doctor Who after a decade away from the role.
Also returning under Russell T. Davis’ new management is Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, with Heartstopper’s Yasmin Finney joining the cast as Donna’s daughter, Rose. Doctor Who’s official Instagram page revealed this long-speculated news with the caption: “When we last saw Donna, the Doctor had to wipe her memory. So the question is, what happens when Rose meets one of her mum’s oldest friends?”
Donna and Tennant’s iteration of the Doctor were last seen together as the Doctor wiped Donna’s memory to save her life, warning that if she were to ever see or remember him, she would die. Donna references this loss in the trailer, saying: “sometimes I think there’s something missing, like I had something lovely, and it’s gone.”
Neil Patrick Harris (A Series of Unfortunate Events) is shown as the all-powerful villain ‘the Toymaker’, who last appeared in the Doctor Who franchise in 1966, played by Michael Gough (Batman). The immortal villain resides inside a pocket dimension in which he has omnipotent control over those inside it, and according to the 12th Doctor, was created in “the chaos before time.”
In the last seconds of the trailer, Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) is shown opening his eyes in a close-up shot, teasing his arrival as the 15th Doctor.
Doctor Who’s three 60th Anniversary episodes are expected to air in November of 2023, with Ncuti Gatwa’s first episodes as the Doctor airing over Christmas.
