When asked about why a multi-Doctor adventure wasn’t in the cards for the 60th anniversary, former and current showrunner, Russell T. Davies stated that “The Power of the Doctor” was the major reason why. “The Power of the Doctor” and the 60th anniversary are only 11 months apart, and it would have been overwhelming as a creator to do it back to back. This makes perfect sense, even if it ignores sixty years of tradition. Now the 20th anniversary of the show's return in 2005 is just around the corner. With the anniversary of the modern version of the show, Davies could have taken the opportunity to reunite the modern Doctors (and the 8th because I’m a fan) in an exciting new multi-Doctor adventure for this generation of fans. It’s alright though, because Davies has already shut down the talk of a multi-Doctor adventure. Citing the same issue as too many anniversaries in a row saying “no. Sorry. I don’t think that’s wise.”
He’s not the only one to show disinterest in a new multi-Doctor crossover, even though he’s created multiple ways for it to happen since returning. While the classic Doctors, including Paul McGann’s 8th Doctor have expressed enthusiasm to a potential return, most of the modern generations Doctors have outright declined this idea. Since his exit from the show, 9th Doctor actor Christopher Eccleston has been very outspoken about the abuse he received on the show and his disinterest (to put it kindly) in returning. He’s since softened this position and returned to the role through Big Finish audio adventures, including an upcoming season where he’ll return with Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, but he is still very against returning to the show. Steven Moffat reportedly approached him for the role of the War Doctor, who became John Hurt, but he obviously declined. Last year he stated his terms to return to the show by saying "Sack Russell T Davies, sack Jane Tranter, sack Phil Collinson, sack Julie Gardner, and I'll come back.” So he’s out.
Having returned twice to Doctor Who, as the 10th Doctor in “The Day of the Doctor,” and recently as the 14th Doctor, it almost seems inevitable that David Tennant would return for another multi-Doctor adventure. At one point, he was very eager to return, even going so far as to assume he would for the 50th anniversary. But when asked if he would return since the 14th Doctor is living on Earth in the same timeline as the 15th Doctor, Russell T. Davies said that he is “retired” from the role. Even though he, stupidly, opened the door for this return, Davies is now growing frustrated by the ask saying that "I think he died. I’m going to start saying that.” These are not David Tennant’s words but Davies seems uninterested in another appearance by the most popular actor to play the Doctor since Tom Baker. Perhaps he’s regretting the bi-generation (as he should).
Being the youngest actor to ever play the Doctor, Matt Smith has been historically uninterested in returning to Doctor Who. Understandably, he was more interested in building his post-Doctor Who career and not looking back. But recently, he’s changed his tune. Last year he was asked if he was open to returning and he said “never say never.” He’s never closed the door entirely, but this was the most he’s expressed interest in a possible return. It’s gotten long enough now that he misses the show.
Like Christopher Eccleston, the 12th Doctor’s Peter Capaldi is also not interested in returning. But for very different reasons. Capaldi, like David Tennant, was a lifelong Doctor Who fan and considered it a dream come true to become the Doctor. But when asked if he would return, he seems to be happy leaving well enough alone, stating that if he never comes back, then his Doctor is still out there, and that “there comes a time when you have to leave things alone.” He also said in 2021, that he feels “the more multi-Doctor stories you have the less effective they are, really,” and that he wouldn’t “really fancy” returning for one. He has no animosity towards returning, he just doesn’t want to diminish his experience.
Then there’s the unfairly maligned 13th Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, the first female actress to play the role of the Doctor. Of the modern Doctors, she’s the only one who has answered with an enthusiastic “yes”. Her enthusiasm for returning, and the fact that she’s already returned to do Big Finish dramas, something that Smith and Capaldi haven’t done yet, almost paints a picture that she didn’t want to leave in the first place. Considering the reception she had during her tenure, it’s heartwarming to see her enthusiasm hasn’t dwindled. Interestingly, she’s got the shortest time between leaving the show and returning for Big Finish audio dramas. However, while she’s incredibly enthusiastic about returning, as stated above, her former selves aren’t. Enough have claimed that they don’t want to return at all. So this paints a rather disappointing picture when considering a multi-Doctor special. But maybe a team up with the 13th and 15th Doctor would be enough.
There’s a lot of hurdles to overcome when creating a multi-Doctor story. Big Finish producers talked about the daunting task of doing them when they were developing the 60th anniversary special Once & Future. Even with the benefit of being able to record voices at different times and locations, it’s hard to not turn the story into pure fan-fiction. The same is true when it comes to the show. There are 12 living Doctors (not counting Jo Martin), and getting them all together would be a daunting task, especially with many of the advanced ages of the classic Doctors. Which is why a 20th anniversary celebrating the modern generation of the show would be an ideal compromise. But it wouldn’t be worth it if they all weren’t interested in returning. Especially if Russell T. Davies doesn’t want to write it.
What’s a little strange, is that Davies has actually written in a few ways to make a multi-Doctor story even easier to write. For the Tales of the TARDIS minisodes on the BBC iPlayer, he had the classic Doctors reunite with their companions to reminisce over the adventures they had. Admittedly, it was just an excuse to write a clip show, but he created an in-universe explanation for why the classic Doctors would look so much older then the last time fans saw them. Then he went on to introduce the idea of a bi-generation, a mythological variant of the regeneration trick that allowed multiple actors to play the Doctor. Sure, this explanation would only benefit David Tennant, but Davies decided that “he died.”
While Doctor Who writers, creators, and actors seem uninterested in multi-Doctor stories, fans are incredibly enthusiastic about them. The reason is very simple: Doctor Who is a very long running science fiction show that spans multiple generations. Each Doctor has a generation of fans who grew up with them and consider them “their Doctor.” A multi-Doctor adventure is tailor made for a show like Doctor Who, and personifies the very nature of why anniversaries are so special. Anniversaries are times for looking back at the journey that brought you to that point in your life. For Doctor Who, it gives fans a chance to look back at the past, reminisce with an old friend (Doctor), and look to new horizons. But it didn’t happen for the 60th, and it won’t happen for the 20th, so it looks like we’ll all have to wait for the 70th, if at all. But it’s not worth asking for it if their heart(s) isn’t in it.
