The Fourteenth Doctor is Here!

Story: Destination: Skaro
Written By: Russell T. Davies
Length: 5 Minutes
Year: 2023

The new era of Doctor Who, the second coming of Russell T. Davies, has finally begun...if only in a small way. Just as he originally began, David Tennant's second incarnation as the Doctor is given a little tease via a short mini-episode that has aired during the Children in Need telethon.  And it is a goofy but fun little twist on classic canon.  

A pre-accident Davros, played again by Julian Bleach out of the heavy make-up, is showing one of his underlings his new travel machine prototype, with it's classic casing and it's very useful claw arm.  When Davros is called away, the Doctor's TARDIS crashes into the room and knocks the useful arm off.  After the Doctor gives the hapless assistant lots of ideas for what to call this Dalek and all that, the Doctor realizes he could be screwing up the timeline and decides to quickly run off, but he needs to replace the useful arm, and hands the assistant guy a plunger to shove in it's place. When Davros returns...he likes it!

It's a goofy short, which is to be expected for Children in Need.  But hey, a taste of the return of Tennant (though who would ever think he couldn't still play the Doctor...he is still fairly youthful and has been actively working on other projects but also has been playing the Doctor on audio in recent years) and Davies, whose writing feels just as fun as it ever was.  This is silly and can easily ruffle the feathers of canon fiends perhaps, but I enjoyed it for what it was: a comedy sketch that gives us the return of my favorite Who actor and writer team.  Can't wait until next week!

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