Shirley Ballas is set to make a guest appearance in the new series of Doctor Who.
The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 63, is swapping the tango for the TARDIS as she revealed she is ‘very excited’ for people to see her as she appeared alongside screenwriter and producer Russell T. Davies on BBC Morning Live on Wednesday.
On the show host Gethin Jones teased with Russell that there was someone else in the studio who could ‘potentially’ be on Doctor Who when the series launches on Saturday.
Russell replied: ‘Do you mean the top secret information that Shirley Ballas is going to appear in Doctor Who?’
Asked what she can reveal about her star appearance in the show, the ballroom champion kept her cards close to her chest, but revealed filming the show ‘was one of the best days of my life.’
‘I can tell you 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.’
Russell added: ‘I was on set that day let me tell you, there was no way I was missing that, Dame Shirley Ballas on Doctor Who.’
The new series of the long-running BBC show will begin over the festive period, with Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Time Lord and Millie Gibson playing his companion Ruby Sunday.
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 Doctor 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, Russell 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 David 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.’
David himself has also discussed his ‘joyous’ return as the Doctor and revealed how the BBC show led to his marriage with Georgia Moffett.
Georgia was a guest actress, who appeared in a 2008 episode with him, which means his father-in-law is former fifth Doctor Peter Davison.
Speaking in an interview with Radio Times about returning to the show alongside Catherine Tate and ruining his legacy after quitting the show in 2010, he said: ‘I hadn’t thought about it like that.
‘Thank God I made it to this point! It never really occurred to me to worry about that. Perhaps it should have done… but with Catherine [Tate] being part of it, and with Russell [T Davies] writing the scripts, I never actually worried about anything other than my own ability to run as fast as I used to.’
He continued: ‘The first conversation we had about it was very casual.
‘Russell and Catherine were talking about the notion of: “What if we got the band back together for one last special? But David would never do it.” And I said, “What do you mean I’d never do it? I’d do it in a shot.” And then suddenly, we were back for three in a row.
‘I mean, why not? It was such a joyous time, and these are people I love as humans, and certainly love as people to work with. And Doctor Who is something that will always be hugely important to me.’
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
