Doctor Who's 60th anniversary specials runtime revealed

Hour-long extravaganzas.

By Shivani Dubey

12 Nov 2022

Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary specials are rapidly approaching, and now we finally know the runtime of the episodes.

It has been revealed in the latest Doctor Who Magazine that each of the three special episodes will be “hour-long spectaculars”.

An excerpt from the new issue of the magazine reads as follows: “When Russell [T Davies] ran Doctor Who for five years in the 2000s, he turned it into a huge critical and commercial success.”

doctor who, david tennant as the fourteenth doctor

BBC

“He’s returning with some big, bold, next-level plans, kicking off in November 2023 with three special episodes – hour-long spectaculars – starring David’s Fourteenth Doctor, before Ncuti takes over as the Fifteenth, around the festive period,” it adds.

As fans may recall, in Jodie Whittaker’s regeneration episode, when many expected her to regenerate into Ncuti Gatwa, who is set to be the next Doctor, they were shocked and delighted to find her Doctor regenerating into David Tennant’s Doctor, setting up the anniversary special.

Ncuti is to make his appearance in the specials as well, and Russell T Davies is also back as showrunner. Catherine Tate will also join these specials alongside Tennant.

BBC

Speaking to BBC News, Tennant explained how his comeback to the series came to life.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Tennant, Tate and Davies had taken part in an online Doctor Who watchalong called Doctor Who: Lockdown!

That is where this idea to return was born.

"That's where this all started," said Tennant. "At a certain time and day everyone would press play on a certain episode and some of the people who had been involved in those episodes were tweeting along."

"Me and Catherine would text, 'Wouldn't it be fun to do it again?' And Russell would say, 'We could do a one-off, maybe they'd let us'," he added.

Doctor Who returns in 2023 on BBC One in the UK and Disney+ elsewhere. Meanwhile, in the US, the show airs on BBC America, with series 1-12 available on HBO Max. Classic Doctor Who streams on BritBox in the UK.