A bit over a yr in the past, Physician Who followers watched as Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Physician shockingly regenerated into David Tennant’s Fourteenth Physician, the primary time the title Time Lord was ever proven reverting to one in every of their earlier faces. Nonetheless, this defined why Tennant was returning for Physician Who’s sixtieth anniversary episodes, and as we speak, it was lastly revealed when these three episodes will lastly premiere. Nonetheless, this new data now has me asking a query regarding Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Physician, particularly if his first full episode will break with custom that’s been established because the present was revived in 2005.
When Will Physician Who’s sixtieth Anniversary Episodes Air?
First issues first, it was introduced as we speak that Physician Who’s sixtieth anniversary celebration will kick off with the premiere of “The Star Beast” on Saturday, November 25. That will probably be adopted by “Wild Blue Yonder” on December 2, after which “The Giggle” will spherical out this arc on December 9. It’s additionally vital to keep in mind that whereas Physician Who will proceed to BBC One in the UK and Eire, followers in america and different territories will want a Disney+ subscription to observe these episodes and future seasons.
It’s curious that “The Star Beast” premieres on November 25 somewhat than November 23, the day that Physician Who premiered again in 1963, particularly contemplating that the fiftieth anniversary, a.okay.a. “The Day of the Physician,” dropped on that day. Nonetheless, I think about that the powers-that-be felt that it will be higher to debut the episode on a Saturday, when extra viewers each younger and outdated would be capable to tune in, somewhat than on a Thursday. However this in flip has me questioning if an analogous plan will probably be adopted for Ncuti Gatwa’s first full Physician Who episode.
What This May Imply For Ncuti Gatwa’s First Full Physician Who Episode
David Tennant could be the star of Physician Who’s sixtieth anniversary episodes, however by the point this arc is over, he’ll have departed this mortal coil and made approach for the Fifteenth Physician. Frankly, given how a lot he’s been teased within the previews for the sixtieth anniversary, together with the trailer that premiered in late September, I ponder if he’ll have a much bigger position to play past merely displaying up within the closing minutes of “The Giggle.” No matter finally ends up occurring, it’s already been formally said that Ncuti Gatwa’s first full Physician Who episode will air someday in the course of the “festive season.”
This may counsel that somewhat than the episode premiering on New 12 months’s Day, which had grow to be the norm in the course of the Thirteenth Physician period, we’ll as an alternative get it on Christmas Day, with Christmas specials having been a Physician Who custom from 2005’s “The Christmas Invasion” to 2017’s “Twice Upon a Time.” Solely, what if that’s not fairly the case? The obscure “festive season” description mixed with the Saturday drops for the sixtieth anniversary episodes have me questioning if this explicit episode will even premiere on a Saturday, particularly both December 16 or December 23.
I’m extra inclined in the direction of the latter date since that’s solely a two-day distinction, and in the end it is a minor dialogue level within the grand scheme of issues. In spite of everything, following that preliminary premiere, few will care when the episode initially aired, and there’s nothing to cease anybody from having fun with Gatwa’s first full Physician Who episode on Christmas Day both as a rewatch or for the primary time. Nonetheless, contemplating how vital Christmas/New 12 months’s Day has been to Physician Who for near 20 years now, it will be attention-grabbing to hit a degree the place a particular episode received’t arrive on both of these days.
In any case, we now have a month to go till David Tennant’s Fourteenth Physician outings, and at any time when the Fifteenth Physician does take middle stage, afterwards, we are able to sit up for his first season, i.e. Season 14, unfolding someday in 2024. In the meantime, our 2023 TV schedule may be perused in the event you’re interested by what different programming is left for this yr.
