This year marks the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, with William Hartnell’s First Doctor having been introduced on the small screen on November 23, 1963. To commemorate this milestone, three specials will air this November featuring the return of David Tennant, albeit as the freshly-regenerated Fourteenth Doctor rather than the Tenth. But that’s not all that could have happened, as Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor from 1982 to 1984, revealed he’d been working on something to celebrate Doctor Who turning 60, but was ultimately scrapped.
Doctor Who fans will recall that in 2013, in addition to “The Day of The Doctor” commemorating the show’s 50 anniversary, a comedy spoof called The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot was released on the BBC’s Red Button service. The sketch, which Davison also wrote and directed, followed him, Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker and Seventh Doctor actor Sylvester McCoy learning they weren’t invited to take part in the 50th anniversary special and attempting to sneak onto the set. In an interview with Radio Times, Davison shared that he’d intended to put together a similar spoof for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, but this time around, the power-that-be at the BBC weren’t interested. The actor explained:
I came up with an idea. It was deemed, by those I showed it to, as utterly unacceptable, although I thought it was very funny!... It’s a different world now. And I am always – I wouldn’t say – pushing the boundaries. My sense of humour is maybe a little out of sync with the sense of humour that now exists…
Along with the aforementioned trio, The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot also featured appearances numerous other Doctor Who talent, including David Tennant, Eighth Doctor actor Paul McGann, Eleventh Doctor actor Matt Smith, Clara Oswald actress Jenna Coleman (who was leading the series with Smith at the time) and Jack Harkness actor John Barrowman, to name just a few. Even Ian McKellen, who voiced The Great Intelligence in “The Snowmen,” and director Peter Jackson, who’s a fan of the program, popped their heads in. The sketch was met with positive critical reception and was nominated for the 2014 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).
However, the pieces just didn’t fall into place to make a The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot follow-up for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, though that may have been for the best. Peter Davison was joined in the interview by his wife, author Elizabeth Morton, and she mentioned that given how “phenomenal” the 2013 spoof turned out, trying to replicate that “perfect storm” would “diminish” the original. Davison then added:
I wouldn’t have wanted to do it anyway unless I thought it could be as good, or better. So, in the end, it became very clear to me that there were too many compromises I’d be asked to make in the making of it and I thought it just best to leave it alone – because the original was perfect!
So assuming that a Fifth Doctor cameo isn’t in the cards for the three upcoming specials, then it doesn’t sound like Peter Davison will be involved with Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. The good news, though, is that both he and Sylvester McCoy got to jump back into the timey-wimey fray last year for “The Power of the Doctor.” The two first appeared alongside Colin Baker, Paul McGann and David Bradley, who played The First Doctor in “Twice Upon a Time” after first portraying William Hartnell in An Adventure in Space and Time, as manifestations in the mind of Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor. Later on, Davison and McCoy appeared as holographic representations of the Fifth and Seventh Doctors in front of their respective past companions, Janet Fielding’s Tegan Jovanka and Sophie Aldred’s Ace.
Along with David Tennant, the cast of Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary specials also include Catherine Tate reprising Donna Noble, the later Bernard Cribbins reprising Wilfred Mott, Jacqueline King reprising Sylvia Noble and Karl Collins reprising Shaun Temple, as well as newcomers like Yasmin Finney, Ruth Madeley and Neil Patrick Harris. These special will pace the way for Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, who will lead Season 14 next year. Remember that outside of the United Kingdom and Ireland, fans will need a Disney+ subscription to watch new Doctor Who episodes going forward.
