Wild Blue Yonder will be the second of the three 2023 specials of Doctor Who, broadcast on 2 December 2023[1] as part of the 60th anniversary celebrations.
Synopsis
The TARDIS takes the Doctor and Donna on a journey to a faraway, mysterious place and abandons them in the middle of Hostile Action.[2]
Plot
to be added
Cast
- The Doctor - David Tennant
- Donna Noble - Catherine Tate
- Isaac Newton - Nathaniel Curtis
- Wilfred Mott - Bernard Cribbins
- Mrs Merridew - Susan Twist[3]
- Jimbo - TBA
Uncredited cast
to be added
Crew
to be added
Worldbuilding
- The Doctor once spent three years in orbit because the HADS prevented him from landing anywhere.
Notes
- Unlike the other two 2023 specials, The Star Beast and The Giggle, the marketing of Wild Blue Yonder was kept incredibly vague and told very little about the plot. The BBC wished to maintain the surprises of the story and Russell T Davies wanted one of the specials to be a complete mystery.[2] According to director Tom Kingsley, the secrecy had naught to do with "any surprise returning actors or villains", but because "we thought you might find it fun to watch it without knowing what's going to happen next".[4]
- This story's upcoming debut was mentioned alongside the other 2023 specials in the non-fiction feature Back in Business published in Doctor Who The Official Annual 2024 on 7 September 2023.
- The preview of this episode released in DWM 597 revealed a teaser of the plot and a snippet of dialogue between the Doctor and Donna.[2]
- It also revealed a cast list consisting of Tennant, Tate, and three other names that had all been replaced with a "[REDACTED]". These were later revealed to be Nathaniel Curtis, Susan Twist, and Bernard Cribbins.
- The title of the episode was named after the song "Wild Blue Yonder".[2]
- David Tennant called this special "unlike any Doctor Who episode ever", referring to the specials as a whole as "Russell [T Davies] off the leash".[5]
- This will be the second story to stream exclusively on Disney+ outside of the United Kingdom.
- According to an advertisement on the BBC, the robot featured in promotional materials is named "Jimbo".[6]
- In Doctor Who Magazine Issue 597, Davies teased five words that would play a part in the special: Southampton, vegetable, bean, starlight, and Flux. He also revealed that the history of both the Flux and the Timeless Child would be "dealt with very slightly in this episode".[7]
- This episode was dedicated to the memory of Bernard Cribbins, who passed away over a year before transmission.
Myths
- Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker will return as the Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth Doctors, or as their Guardians of the Edge forms.[source needed]
- Alternatively, Matt Smith will return to play a new incarnation of the Master, potentially disguising himself as the Eleventh Doctor to fool the Fourteenth in some fashion.[source needed]
- John Simm will return as the Saxon Master.[source needed]
- Karen Gillan will return as Amy Pond[source needed]
- The Wirrn will return.[source needed]
- David Tennant will play the Tenth Doctor again.[source needed]
- Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor will make an early debut in this episode.[source needed]
- More specifically, he will appear alongside Millie Gibson's Ruby Sunday, marking the first Multi-Doctor story told from the perspective of a former incarnation.[source needed]
- Carole Ann Ford will return as Susan Foreman.[source needed]
- The name of actor Susan Twist[3] was used on the BBC website as a subtle teaser for Susan's return.[source needed]
Filming locations
to be added
Production errors
If you'd like to talk about narrative problems with this story — like plot holes and things that seem to contradict other stories — please go to this episode's discontinuity discussion.
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Influences
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Continuity
This section needs a cleanup.
As per Forum:Non-valid Continuity sections, categories, and prefixes#Continuity sections, thid section needs to be written from an out-of-universe perspective.
- The Doctor and Donna are stranded due to the HADS activating. (TV: Cold War, The Magician's Apprentice, The Witch's Familiar)
- The Doctor licks a substance to determine its properties. (TV: The Christmas Invasion, The Idiot's Lantern, Planet of the Dead, The Eleventh Hour, Day of the Moon, It Takes You Away)
Home media releases
DVD and Blu-ray releases
This episode, along with The Star Beast [+]Loading...["The Star Beast (TV story)"] and The Giggle [+]Loading...["The Giggle (TV story)"], was released on Region 2 DVD, and Region B Blu-ray and steelbook on 18 December 2023.[8]
UK 2 DVD cover
UK Blu-ray cover
UK steelbook cover
Gallery
- Main article: /Gallery
Footnotes
Notes
References
- ↑ @bbcdoctorwho on twitter.com
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 DWM 597 - Preview of Wild Blue Yonder, Page 20
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wild Blue Yonder on bbc.co.uk
- ↑ @kingsley_tom on twitter.com
- ↑ David Tennant’s Doctor Who Return ‘Is Unlike Any Episode Ever’ on empireonline.com
- ↑ carlinjack1 on twitter.com
- ↑ Doctor Who's second 60th anniversary special will have Flux connection on RadioTimes.com
- ↑ Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials available to pre-order on Steelbook, DVD and Blu-ray on doctorwho.tv