Doctor Who released Special 2, "Wild Blue Yonder," on BBC iPlayer and Disney+ with a curiously small cast of characters and actors.
"Wild Blue Yonder" took David Tennant's 14th Doctor and Catherine Tate's Donna Noble on an unplanned mission to a spaceship at the edge of the universe where they faced plenty of scares and curious threats.
Doctor Who Special 2 'Wild Blue Yonder' Cast
David Tennant - The Doctor
Going into "Wild Blue Yonder," the 14th Doctor has reunited with his old best friend Donna Noble, and come into his own as a rather familiar Doctor.
Beyond just leading the efforts to get him and Donna off the ship at the edge of the universe, Tennant pulls double-duty in this episode in a villainous role. As two mysterious aliens move to replicate the leading duo, the actor gets to mix things up with a soulless and occasionally horror-esque version of his Doctor.
Scottish actor Tennant also has acting credits in Marvel's Jessica Jones, Star Wars' Ahsoka, Amazon's Good Omens, and Broadchurch.
Additionally, there were three doubles involved in creating Tennant's Doctor and his villainous duplicate for "Wild Blue Yonder." Those include acting double Daniel Tuite, contortionist double Tommaso Di Vincenzo, and beast double Ophir Raray.
Catherine Tate - Donna Noble
Having been reintroduced to Catherine Tate's Donna Noble in "The Star Beast," Special 2 keeps her just as fierce as ever as, alongside the Doctor, she strives to get back home to reunite with her family.
Much like Tennant, the actress gets the fun task of playing off both her villainous self and two versions of the Doctor in "Wild Blue Yonder."
Tate is perhaps best known for her time on Doctor Who, but she also featured in The Office, Big School, and The Catherine Tate Show.
The actress similarly required an acting double to create a monstrous antagonist self, a duty that fell to Helen Cripps.
Susan Twist - Mrs Merridew
Outside of Tennant's Doctor and Tate's Donna, Susan Twist playing Mrs. Merridew was the only casting announced for the mysterious "Wild Blue Yonder." This led many to speculate there may be a surprise hiding in her role, but now it has become clear it was because the episode simply had an incredibly small cast.
Despite that, Mrs. Merridew appears for just a few seconds in the opening of "Wild Blue Yonder," serving as the housekeeper to Isaac Newton in 1666.
Liverpool-born actress Twist has past credits in Coronation Street, The Bill, Doctors, and more.
Nathaniel Curtis - Isaac Newton
Before landing on the spaceship at the edge of the universe, the TARDIS took the Doctor and Donna on a trip to 1666 England where they crashed into an apple tree and met Sir. Isaac Newton - the man behind the theory of gravity.
The time-travelers crossed paths with the legendary physicist before his scientific breakthrough. They even helped inspire the theory of dropping the term "gravity" and knocking the apple down which gave him the idea.
The historic figure was played by Nathaniel Curtis, who appeared before in Channel 4 drama It's a Sin - which hails from Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davis - and Netflix's The Witcher: Blood Origin.
Bernard Cribbins - Wilfred Mott
Long-time fans of Doctor Who were left ecstatic in the final moments of "Wild Blue Yonder" with a surprising cameo from Donna Noble's grandfather Wilfred Mott, being played by the late Bernard Cribbins for one last time.
Beyond his obvious excitement to be reunited with the Doctor and Donna, Wilfred revealed in the time the pair had been off-world, the planet had fallen into chaos as the human race went mad.
Cribbins had been acting since 1956, with his appearance in Doctor Who's 2023 specials expected to serve as his final performance. Other past credits include 2016's A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1970's The Railway Children, and more.
Doctor Who's first two 60th anniversary specials are streaming now on Disney+ in most territories and exclusively on BBC iPlayer in the U.K. & Ireland.
