David Tennant and Catherine Tate are returning to Doctor Who as part of the show’s 60th anniversary celebrations.
Showrunner Russell T Davies and the BBC announced the duo’s return on Sunday, though the exact nature of their involvement is being kept under wraps.
Tennant played the 10th Doctor between 2005-2010 during Davies’ original run in charge of the show, with Tate playing his third and final regular companion Donna Noble. The 10th Doctor returned briefly in 2013 for the 50th anniversary special Day of the Doctor in which he teamed up with successor Matt Smith and John Hurt’s previously unseen War Doctor.
In September the BBC announced Davies, who revived the series in 2005 to great critical and audience acclaim, would return to write and produce the series which has seen a marked fall in viewing during recent years.
His second run of the show is being produced by Bad Wolf, the independent production company set up by former BBC execs Julie Gardner and Jane Tranter who worked with Davies on the 2005 relaunch.
Last week Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa was named as the next inhabitant of the Tardis and will replace outgoing Doctor Jodi Whittaker who is set to leave the show later this year.
Russell T Davies said: “They’re back! And it looks impossible – first, we announce a new Doctor, and then an old Doctor, along with the wonderful Donna, what on earth is happening?
“Maybe this is a missing story. Or a parallel world. Or a dream, or a trick, or a flashback. The only thing I can confirm is that it’s going to be spectacular, as two of our greatest stars reunite for the battle of a lifetime.”