Russell T Davies has revealed that Shirley Ballas will make a guest appearance in the upcoming series of Doctor Who.
The Strictly Come Dancing head judge said she is “very excited” for people to see her in the sci-fi show, as she appeared alongside screenwriter and producer Davies on BBC Morning Live on Wednesday.
The new series of the long-running BBC show will begin over the festive period, with Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor and Millie Gibson playing his companion Ruby Sunday.
🚨 DOCTOR WHO TOP SECRET EXCLUSIVE ALERT! 🚨@russelldavies63 reveals 'a scoop' that someone in the Morning Live studio will be appearing on new @bbcdoctorwho. Watch this to find out WHO it is. She's been keeping it STRICTLY a secret until now. SHIRLEY not?!!#DoctorWho60 pic.twitter.com/1oheqTYF9u
— BBC Morning Live (@BBCMorningLive) November 22, 2023
Morning Live presenter Gethin Jones teased Davies that there was someone else in the studio who could “potentially” be on Doctor Who.
Davies replied: “Do you mean the top secret information that Shirley Ballas is going to appear in Doctor Who?”
Ballas then said: “The filming was one of the best days of my life.
“We’re doing a guest appearance with Jojo (Strictly professional Johannes Radebe) where I actually get to perform with Jojo and so many other dancers on the show, so I’m very, very excited for people to watch.”
Davies said he ensured he was on set the day Ballas was filming as there was “no way” we could miss it.
#DoctorWho officially returns from this week! Ready to see the Doctor and Donna back in action? ❤️❤️➕🔷 pic.twitter.com/9NJFMt9bym
— Doctor Who (@bbcdoctorwho) November 20, 2023
Ahead of the new series, three special episodes will be aired to mark the 60th anniversary of the show, with David Tennant returning as the Time Lord alongside his former companion Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate.
The first special, titled The Star Beast, will air on November 25 on BBC One and will be followed by Wild Blue Yonder on December 2 and The Giggle on December 9.
After being shown a trailer for the episodes, Davies said he is “excited” for them to be launched, adding: “I feel like we’ve been previewing it for years, it’s finally on this Saturday, at last, we’re there.”
Discussing Tennant jumping from being the 10th Doctor to the 14th in the special episodes, Davies added: “It’s not massively different, you don’t get David Tennant to come be different because he’s loved and we want him to be the Doctor of old.
“But he is 15 years older and there are certain moments where you’ll see more human touches sometimes, but you keep watching… you get to the third special and there’s kind of a reason why that face comes back.”