Peter Davison and Colin Baker,
the Fifth and Sixth Doctors, respectively, have both promoted, through their own Twitter feeds,
TheFishDr Twitter account in the past few days.
For months, Baker and Davison have insisted that they are playing no part in
Doctor Who 's 50th-anniversary storyline, as have Tom Baker (Fourth Doctor),
Sylvester McCoy (Seventh Doctor) and Paul McGann (Eighth Doctor).
Then, last week, on 14 November,
TheFishDr tweeted, "9 days. They are coming... #FishDr"; and, each day since then, has posted a countdown tweet. Yesterday's tweet was a photograph of Davison looking at a handheld computer screen, as reproduced below right.
@dayoftheFishDr
TheFishDr / Twitter
That said, in September,
Davison dropped hints that he would be involved in some way. This followed, a week earlier, reports of three of the Classic-era Doctors
taking part in a “protest” outside BBC Television Centre, apparently complaining at not being asked to take part in the show’s 50th.
In the case of McGann, it turned out to be a classic case of misdirection: Last Saturday
saw the release of the prequel short film
The Night of the Doctor, in which McGann returned to the role of the Eighth Doctor on television for the first time since 1996.
As reported by the
Drum,
Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat "explicitly stated that none of the classic
Doctor Who incarnations would appear in the show’s 50th anniversary programming. This was demonstrated to be a spectacular misdirection when McGann appeared as the Doctor in a secretly filmed prequel episode, to rapturous acclaim."
@dayoftheFishDr
TheFishDr / Twitter
Consequently, the hopes of
Doctor Who fans have been renewed that the other Classic-era Doctors will be making some sort of dramatic appearance, too.
What is for sure is that the special will see three Doctors unite for the first time: Matt Smith (Eleventh Doctor), David Tennant (Tenth Doctor) and John Hurt (War Doctor); while Christopher Eccleston (Ninth Doctor)
turned down the invitation to be involved.
The official
Doctor Who 50th-anniversary special,
The Day of the Doctor, will be simulcast in over 75 countries this coming weekend, on Saturday, 23 November.
Meanwhile, also this week, the First and Second Doctors, as originally played by William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, have been recast for a one-off drama, telling the story of how the world’s longest-running television science-fiction drama series came about.
An Adventure in Space and Time, by Mark Gatiss, will see David Bradley (
Harry Potter) recreate the role of the First Doctor – and play the actor himself – in the 90-minute film. Reece Shearsmith (
Psychoville) will do the same for Patrick Troughton and his Second Doctor.
