Doctor Who: Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor to cross paths with The Beatles very soon

14 December 2023, 10:35

Good Ol’ Freda trailer – the Beatles secretary Freda Kelly

Aliens, goblins and... John, Paul, George and Ringo.

Doctor Who has always been about more than hurtling through space or taking a sneak peek at the future of humanity.

The show has always enjoyed dipping into history and The Doctor has crossed paths with historical figures like Queen Victoria, Vincent Van Gogh, Charles Dickens and many, many more.

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In his comeback trilogy, David Tennant's Doctor bumped into Sir Isaac Newton, and while Ncuti Gatwa's first full episode as the Fifteenth Doctor will see him go head-to-head with some Christmas goblins, he'll be meeting pop royalty very soon after.

"[The Christmas special is] completely different to the next episode, isn't it?" returning showrunner Russell T Davis was quoted by Radio Times as saying after a screening of this year's final special

"And then the one after that, that's The Beatles... that's nuts!"

London 1965 | The Chase | Doctor Who

Davies didn't reveal how The Beatles will feature in the episode, so we don't know how John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr (or Pete Best?) might be depicted.

The Fab Four's last appearance in a Doctor Who episode came way back in 1965 serial 'The Chase' – during William Hartnell's time as The First Doctor – when we saw the group performing their then-current single 'Ticket To Ride'.

Gatwa is the fourth Scot to play The Doctor, and will be joined in his first full season by Millie Gibson, who'll play his companion Millie Gibson.