{"id":42189,"date":"2023-12-19T17:00:30","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T16:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1947208"},"modified":"2023-12-19T19:54:38","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T18:54:38","slug":"catherine-tate-thought-doctor-who-specials-would-end-with-terrible-thing","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/catherine-tate-thought-doctor-who-specials-would-end-with-terrible-thing\/","title":{"rendered":"Catherine Tate thought Doctor Who specials would end with \u201cterrible thing\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

“It was so not what I was expecting.” <\/p>

By Louise Griffin\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 19 December 2023 at 16:00 PM<\/p>

\n\n

Catherine Tate has revealed how much the ending to Doctor Who<\/a>\u2018s final 60th anniversary special, The Giggle<\/a>, surprised her, admitting she thought it would end with a \u201cterrible final thing\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Donna Noble actress opened up in Imagine\u2026 Russell T Davies, a new BBC programme which documents the writer\u2019s career.<\/p>\n

It covers The Giggle, which made Doctor Who history when the Doctor bigenerated<\/a>, resulting in David Tennant\u2019s Fourteenth Doctor existing alongside Ncuti Gatwa\u2019s Fifteenth.<\/p>\n

Fourteen then decides to stop travelling in the TARDIS<\/a> full-time, instead staying with Donna and the Nobles.<\/p>\n

The final scene shows the Nobles happily eating lunch in the garden together \u2013 and even includes a mention of Wilf<\/a> after Bernard Cribbins\u2019s surprise return<\/a> before his death last year.<\/p>\n

\"Doctor\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Doctor Who\u2019s bigeneration.<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Speaking about that surprise ending, Tate said: \u201cIt was so not what I was expecting. I thought there was going to be a massive, terrible final thing. [But] to end in the garden eating crumble is, of course, exactly where they should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davies also revealed in the documentary that the bigeneration is something he\u2019s been considering for years.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cEveryone\u2019s expecting David Tennant to die and for Ncuti to be reborn as the new guy and, instead, I\u2019ve been dying to do this for years \u2013 he splits in half, so you have two Doctors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat moment on screen of them going [pop] is astronomically exciting. It is a happy ending and David Tennant survives.\u201d<\/p>

Of course, the bigeneration has bigger implications for the entire series, with Davies saying that when David Tennant and Ncuti Gatwa split into two, \u201ca whole timeline bigenerated\u201d.<\/p>\n

The writer then suggests that each previous regeneration was impacted by the bigeneration, with every \u2018old\u2019 Doctor now surviving his demise in a splinter timeline.<\/p>