Doctor Who casts TV presenter Davina McCall in Doctor Who’s upcoming Christmas special, which means bad news for Billie Piper’s potential comeback.
English television presenter and host Davina McCall is reportedly making an appearance in Doctor Who’s Christmas special this year, which means viewers can now definitely kiss Rose Tyler’s surprise cameo goodbye.
2023 is a big year for Doctor Who as this is when the longest-running sci-fi series celebrates its 60th year on air. To commemorate the occasion, the BBC has already started releasing the Doom’s Day multi-platform series, featuring Sooz Kempner in the titular role. The 60th-anniversary specials, starring David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, are coming in November, and there is so much more planned! However, Dec. 2023 will mark the start of Ncuti Gatwa’s era as the Fifteenth Doctor with a traditional Christmas special, and McCall seems to be the latest casting addition (via The Sun).
According to a source, Gatwa’s Doctor will meet his new companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson, and she will be part of McCall’s storyline in the episode. The presenter is said to be playing a fictionalized version of herself who will be hosting a genealogy show — something along the lines of ITV’s Long Lost Family she started working on in 2011. Ruby supposedly comes to this show in search of her biological parents, but ends up getting stuck in a literal nightmare, as the host “gets crushed by a falling Christmas tree.”
What Does Davina McCall’s Casting Mean?
Earlier this year, Doctor Who script editor Scott Handcock said that “a guest star from 2005” would return for this year’s Christmas special. Fans were quick to theorize and jump to conclusions — the top three candidates were Simon Callow’s Charles Dickens, who reprised his role in 2011’s Season 6 finale titled “The Wedding of River Song,” Annette Badland’s Margaret Blaine, who appeared in three Season 1 episodes, and Simon Pegg’s eerie Editor who helped Jagrafess in “The Long Game.” Despite the fact that Handcock specifically stated that a guest star would be making a comeback, many viewers dared to hope that Billie Piper, who was part of the main cast as Rose Tyler, would be popping by for the start of Russell T Davies’ second Doctor Who reign.
Now it seems like McCall is the actress in question because she in fact appeared in Doctor Who in 2005 when she voiced a Davinadroid in Season 1’s penultimate episode “Bad Wolf.” Piper might not be joining the holiday festivities this year, but The Sun’s source did mention that “Pegg’s character could fit nicely alongside Davina’s role,” so there might be hope for the actor’s cameo yet.
