The Doctor will be facing a new adversary in Neil Patrick Harris in the upcoming Doctor Who 60th anniversary special. At the official website, it was announced that Harris would be playing a villain in the special and is currently filming scenes set to air in 2023. Harris has also divulged an image of himself in character from the special by posting it to Instagram, and you can check out the photo below.
"My current gig," Harris says in the caption. "Never looked more dashing. Thank you for inviting me into your Whoniverse, Russell T Davies. I’ll try my hardest to do my worst. This Doctor has no idea what’s in store. And even if he does… Who cares? Ha ha ha HA ha-ha-ha!"
A separate statement from showrunner Russell T Davies about the new casting added, "It’s my huge honor to open our studio doors for the mighty Neil Patrick Harris… but who, why, what is he playing? You’ll just have to wait. But I promise you, the stuff we’re shooting now is off the scale. Doctor beware!”
Additionally, Davies teased when resharing the image on his own Instagram account that Harris is "playing the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced."
Ncuti Gatwa Will Be the Next Doctor
It has also been announced that Jodie Whittaker is preparing to leave Doctor Who with showrunner Chris Chibnall exiting alongside her. That opened the door for Russell T Davies to return as showrunner. Meanwhile, it's been announced that Sex Education standout Ncuti Gatwa will portray the next Doctor with an upcoming special to feature the regeneration from Whittaker into Gatwa. Davies previously released a statement praising Gatwa's casting.
“The future is here and it’s Ncuti! Sometimes talent walks through the door and it’s so bright and bold and brilliant, I just stand back in awe and thank my lucky stars. Ncuti dazzled us, seized hold of the Doctor and owned those TARDIS keys in seconds. It’s an honor to work with him, and a hoot, I can’t wait to get started. I’m sure you’re dying to know more, but we’re rationing ourselves for now, with the wonderful Jodie’s epic finale yet to come. But I promise you, 2023 will be spectacular!”
Gatwa almost did not get the role of the Fourteenth Doctor. During the audition process, one particular unnamed actor had emerged as the favorite for Davies and the Doctor Who team. The rest of the auditions were pretty much done as a formality, and as it turned out, Gatwa was the last person to audition for the role. Once Gatwa did his audition, which Davies describes as "blazing," they knew right away that they had their next Doctor standing in front of them.
"It was the most blazing audition. It was our last audition. It was our very last one. We thought we had someone and then in he came and stole it."