Russell T Davies explains Catherine Tate and David Tennant's return to Doctor Who

Russell T Davies has revealed both Catherine Tate and David Tennant were keen to come back to Doctor Who and it worked out perfectly for the 60th anniversary celebrations

Catherine Tate and David Tennant both jumped at the chance to return to ‘Doctor Who’, according to Russell T Davies.

The returning showrunner of the long-running BBC sci-fi series - which marks five decades of time travel this year - revealed Catherine, 53, and David, 52, were keen to work together again in the upcoming Christmas special after taking on the role of Time Lord and assistant together in the late 00s.

The 60-year-old writer told the Daily Mirror newspaper: “I just love David and Catherine together. Catherine said, ‘Oh, I’ve always loved Donna Noble and wouldn’t it be marvellous to make some more?’

“And I went, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, yeah’, like that. And then she asked David. She said, ‘Would you make some more and he would, in a heartbeat. So I genuinely felt honour-bound to go to the BBC and say, ‘Look, these two stars have just said they would love to come back.’ I knew it was the 60th anniversary coming up. Simple as that.”

“So I just sent off that email about Christmas Eve or something - best Christmas present you ever had!”

Russell - who has penned an episode featuring ‘Harry Potter’ star Miriam Margolyes, 82, as an alien based on Beep The Meep and Yasmin Finney, 20, as Donna’s daughter Rose - found it tricky to mesh two stories together in one episode.

He said: “You’ve got Donna getting her her memory back and you need an alien invasion at the same time.

“It’s such a classic strip - a lonely alien lands and a child befriends the alien and tries to help the alien. And that’s from 1979, two years before ET. So ET ripped that story off, frankly.

The ‘It’s A Sin’ creator enthused about the budget he got for the string of three episodes - which come before Ncuti Gatwa, 31, takes the mantle of the titular role alongside ex ‘Coronation Street’ star Millie Gibson, 19, as his assistant Ruby Sunday - claiming it was “more” than his entire body of work from the last decade.

Russell said: “It’s not a ‘Stars Wars’ budget. Nonetheless, it’s more than most things I’ve made for the past 10 years added together.”