David Tennant is the Doctor! The actual, official, Doctor! To commemorate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, we are treated to an interesting portrayal from Tennant – perhaps the most popular Doctor of all time – as a mysterious new incarnation. This whole year I’ve been wracking my brain. What does it mean? Will other Doctors show up? Is Meep secretly the Master?
Since November 2022, Doctor Who Magazine has charted the familiar-looking Fourteenth Doctor’s first adventure Liberation of the Daleks in their monthly comic strip. Written by Alan Barnes and illustrated by Lee Sullivan, this strip has seen our new Doctor (or is that old Doctor?) encounter the Pepperpots.
Honestly, I couldn’t provide a good enough description of the plot because reading a slice of the story each month lends itself to being not very memorable, for me at least. It captures the essence of Tennant and the Daleks perfectly though, thanks to the efforts of Barnes and Sullivan, and I loved a cheeky moment in which (OOFT, SPOILERS!).
Liberation of the Daleks has left us with a great impression of the Fourteenth Doctor, even inspiring fan-made movie versions of the story on YouTube! The ones I discovered were by Cloister Room and Phoenix 24. I will definitely check these out so I can actually remember what happened in this story (LOL).

Ahead of this New-Old Doctor’s TV tenure – three specials dropping on the BBC and Disney+ imminently – we have had him swagger into two of the BBC’s flagship charity telethons. In March, Lenny Henry regenerated into Fourteen in Comic Relief‘s opening skit (pretty sure this one ain’t canon). For Children In Need just gone, we got something a little more substantial…
Change, my dear?
The Fourteenth Doctor’s first TV appearance! Written by Russel T Davies! Starring David Tennant as the new-old Doctor! The Doctor just regenerated and had a little spat with the Daleks. Fast-forward an hour and he has… another spat with the Daleks!
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. This is a review of a special 5-minute episode; it makes sense to start from the top. Heck, it’s so short, that you can watch it again:
We start on Skaro, where an innovative Travel Machine housing a mutant is being created. We know what this is immediately, but for the characters, this is the beginning of the epic reign of the Daleks! And the amazing surprise of this special is seeing the legend that is Davros played by the similarly legendary Julian Bleach! Having appeared in full make-up as the character in The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End (2008) and The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar (2015), Bleach portrays a Davros pre-disfigurement. He looks more like his non-made-up role as The Nightmare Man in the eponymous episodes of The Sarah Jane Adventures (2010), which really works here.
I always buy Bleach as an unnerving dramatic presence, and I certainly wouldn’t want to be on the bad side of the up-and-coming mega-maniac that we see here.

Davros converses with his colleague, Mr Castavillain, played by actor and comedian Mawaan Rizwan. The character slots in perfectly here; he definitely strikes me as the sort of employee of Davros who is bricking it all the time, similar to some of the more anxious Kaleds seen in Genesis of the Daleks (1975). With Rizwan being a comic, this aspect of the character is believable despite this being a fleeting appearance and suits the evident light tone they were going for befitting of a Children In Need segment.
It was very funny to see Davros and Castavillain discuss the name of this mutant-housing-contrapation. I had never once thought about how this must have been brain-stormed, but if I ever had, it certainly wouldn’t have been in a serious manner. ‘Just which anagram do we go for?’. A conversation like that was never gonna not be ridiculous! But this is Doctor Who, so that is absolutely fine. It got a laugh and a thumbs up for me.
Davros gets called out of the room by his favorite colleague Nyder, in a well-used archive recording of the late great Peter Myles. Castavillain, ashamed of his badly received anagram names, is shocked to see a blue box crash into the wall…
Who composed Beethoven’s Fifth?
So, what are my thoughts on David Tennant’s portrayal as the 14th Doctor in his first ‘official’ scene?
Well it’s a unique one, isn’t it? This Doctor has already had a brief scene at the end of The Power of the Doctor (2022) and a comic strip. And, well, we’ve already had a whole tenue and various audio plays from another incarnation played by the same actor. So we aren’t reinventing the wheel here; there isn’t as much ‘new’ as we would normally expect from a new Doctor. If you can even call him a new Doctor!

I wasn’t expecting anything otherwise, but Tennant really does slip right back into the role effortlessly. The mannerisms, the energy, even the hair – it’s all there. He as Doctor Who will never not be a fan-pleasing and crowd-pleasing feature. He even says ‘I’m sorry… I’m so so sorry’. The guy delivered. I was transported right back to Series 4; even Murray Gold’s music here felt like a hug from an old friend!
I must say; I would like to see some difference between the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors in the three specials coming up. As a spectator, I find the idea of the Doctor having the same face over two different incarnations fascinating! And I want to see them do some interesting stuff with it. How is an older Doctor going to wear the same face?
A Doctor that has faced traumas ranging from punching a diamond wall for billions of years to finding out they had their memories snatched away from them? It would be way more satisfying and interesting to see how this returning Doctor shows up differently as a result of these events, instead of simply being the Tenth Doctor 2.0.
The Doctor, as ever, is flabbergasted to see one of his deadliest enemies. Exclaiming this, he gives Castavillain the anagram he has been looking for… it shall be called a Dalek! And this takes Davros’s fancy, so history has been made!
In a fun bootstrap paradox, it is actually the Doctor who provides the famous name. Should we as fans be up in arms about this revelation?! Nah… I think it’s funny and have no issue with it! At this point, the continuity has gone on for so long that anything is possible and anything can work. I will take whatever, especially if it makes me laugh!
Off the Leash…

We were also treated on Children in Need night to the very first episode of Doctor Who Unleashed! The BBC Three behind-the-scenes show that airs right after every new episode of Doctor Who is back, and this makes me very happy indeed!
Now, right off the bat, is this as good as our beloved Doctor Who Confidential? Not in my opinion. Unleashed, so far as this episode is concerned, seems like a halfway house between Confidential and some of the cringier behind-the-scenes content that followed like Doctor Who Extra (2014-15), which felt too cuddly and reality-tv-like for my taste. But I did like it. We got some insight into the creative process; notably, Russell T Davies explaining why the look of Davros has been changed (I’m not going to touch that subject here I’m afraid… with it being such a complicated discussion, it would need a whole article for itself).
But for me, it felt more like seeing creatives on set enjoying their work than finding out a substantial amount about how the scene was put together. Which is watchable; just nothing to set the world on fire.
Despite this, the vibes are nice, and Steffan Powell is an engaging host. I will carry on watching Unleashed as we head into the Specials and Series 14. Wait, what? Is it Season One? Ah, fair enough. Like I said; if I can have a laugh, I will take whatever!
Conclusion
The Doctor Who Children in Need 2023 special, which I also hear is called Destination Skaro, is a great little scene. Unlike other charity skits that really don’t add much besides a few awkward laughs (I’m looking at you Space and Time (for Comic Relief 2011)), this is a lovely scene that slots nicely into a charity telethon as well as provides something awesome for fans. Easter eggs, lore, and returning faces. Not bad for five minutes!
I give this special a 7/10.
Has this made me more excited for The Star Beast on November 25th? Absolutely not. Because I couldn’t be more excited already!
Harry Walker
Harry is a writer, performer and lover of creativity, most of all Doctor Who. His earliest memory was watching the ninth Doctor story The Empty Child. He has pretty much resigned himself to the fact that Doctor Who is the most ridiculous franchise of all time - but that is why he enjoys it.
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