Catherine Tate reveals that Doctor Who’s heartwarming 60th-anniversary ending was the opposite of what she expected from Donna Noble’s return.
Catherine Tate reveals that Doctor Who’s 60th-anniversary ending initially took her by surprise. The star first joined Doctor Who as a guest in 2006’s seasonal special “The Runaway Bride” before returning as the companion to David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor in season 4. Tate and Tennant reunited to lead the show’s 60th-anniversary celebrations across three adventures that saw a new Fourteenth Doctor (played by Tennant) once more with Donna, facing warring aliens, horrors from beyond the universe, and a powerful foe from the Time Lord past.
With a newly bi-regenerated Fourteenth Doctor joining the Noble family for a calm, normal life on Earth, Tate admitted in the BBC documentary Imagine… Russell T Davies: The Doctor and Me (via RadioTimes.com) that she had expected a tragic fate for the two characters. While Donna’s fate defied Tate’s Doctor Who return expectations of a tragedy, she ultimately feels that the ending was the best choice for both characters. Check out Tate’s response below:
“It was so not what I was expecting. I thought there was going to be a massive, terrible final thing. [But] to end in the garden eating crumble is, of course, exactly where they should be.”
What Comes Next For The Noble Family In Doctor Who?
The character has endured so much tragedy, especially after season 4’s conclusion left her at risk of a horrible death should she remember her adventures.
Donna’s potential fate became one of the most highly speculated points of Doctor Who’s 60th-anniversary storyline. The character has endured so much tragedy, especially after season 4’s conclusion left her at risk of a horrible death should she remember her adventures. Even “Wild Blue Yonder” almost ended with the Doctor rescuing her Not-Thing duplicate and nearly leaving the real Donna behind to be incinerated as the mysterious vessel self-destructs. However, despite the chances of her death being higher than ever and even showrunner Davies teasing a horrible fate, Donna survives, recovers from her Metacrisis transformation, and her faith in the Doctor is proven correct as he never let her down.
Ultimately, with the Doctor and Mel (Bonnie Langford) joining their family, the Nobles settle in France in the Doctor’s new home, enjoying a quiet, peaceful life without having the fate of the universe on their shoulders. Davies has confirmed the Fourteenth Doctor is grounded for his foreseeable future and isn’t set to take any joyrides into a Dalek fleet or stumble into a historical event, suggesting that he is content to live out what time he has left with his best friend. But that doesn’t mean all members of the Noble family won’t stumble into the Fifteenth Doctor’s (Ncuti Gatwa) path, as Yasmin Finney may potentially return as Rose Noble in future Doctor Who adventures.
As part of a fan-favorite TARDIS team, the potential of Donna’s Doctor Who return had viewers both excited and nervous about what may be. Not only could the character face certain death at the mere sight of an alien, but if mishandled, her return could negate the bittersweet but touching note that she and the Doctor parted ways on with his gift in “The End of Time.” However, with Donna and the Doctor reunited in a comfortable life surrounded by loved ones, it is clear that Doctor Who’s 60th-anniversary ending has left audiences and the cast satisfied.
