Doctor Who 60th anniversary trailer originally revealed "bigger plans"

David Tennant and Catherine Tate are set to return to Doctor Who in three specials helmed by the returning showrunner, before Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson take over the keys to the TARDIS.

A trailer released on Christmas Day took everyone by surprise, with the clip revealing new cast members and a sneak peek into the adventures we'll have.

Writing in Doctor Who Magazine, Davies explained: "Those 60 seconds were originally designed as a much larger trailer, 90 seconds long, to go out after The Power of the Doctor on 23rd October 2022.

"A trailer for… well, things that are still secret. Announcements of our bigger plans. But then we said, no, too soon. And in fairness, we realised: this is Jodie’s night, it’s time for us to step back so we can all celebrate her, along with viewers across the world."

Davies has also revealed that the Christmas Day trailer includes absolutely zero footage from the second special, meaning there are still plenty of surprises to come.

The specials are already shaping up to be pretty spectacular, with a stellar cast led by Tennant, who will play the 14th Doctor, and Tate, who's reprising her role as Donna Noble.

Heartstopper's Yasmin Finney will play a character named Rose, while Neil Patrick Harris will also join the cast in a yet to be confirmed role (although plenty of fans have their theories about who he'll be playing).

Ruth Madeley is also joining the cast, while it's thought that Jacqueline King and the late Bernard Cribbins will appear as Sylvia Noble and Wilfred Mott.

Davies previously teased of everything to come: “If you thought the appearance of David Tennant was a shock, we’ve got plenty more surprises on the way

"The path to Ncuti’s Fifteenth Doctor is laden with mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun!

"And how is it connected to the return of the wonderful Donna Noble? How, what, why? We’re giving you a year to speculate, and then all hell lets loose!”

Doctor Who Magazine is out now.

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.

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