Tonight's The Night Doctor Who Scene

BBC Doctor Who
David Tennant makes surprise return to the TARDIS!

The Doctor Who team likes to surprise people. There was the Master turning up in Utopia, the whole Jack/Face of Boe thing and come on, don't pretend you didn't choke on your jammy dodgers when Rose appeared at the end of Partners in Crime.

And in week 6 of Tonight's the Night they did it again! We'd been looking forward to a scene with Captain Jack and the winning alien, set in the TARDIS. Written by Doctor Who's Executive Producer Russell T Davies and featuring John Barrowman, it was pretty obvious it was going to be special. But then part way through the scene, bang! In walks David Tennant, looking bemused and suspicious...

He greets 'John' and wants to know what's going on! John sheepishly replies he's messing around with his friend, Tim. David accepts the explanation but indicates he'll be keeping an eye on him. 'And John,' he adds, before walking away, 'My TARDIS...'

The scene manages to be initially dramatic before morphing into a humorous look at David Tennant and John Barrowman's (imagined!) take on Doctor Who and the TARDIS. And Tonight's the Night also gave us a behind-the-scenes peek into making the scene which features Russell T Davies who talks about the never-diminishing thrill of walking onto the Doctor Who set. This behind-the-scenes feature also captures the moment when Tim Ingham met David Tennant, whose presence in the mini-adventure had been a closely guarded secret.

The aim of Tonight's the Night is 'to make dreams come true' and with this scene they certainly succeeded with Tim Ingham, a Doctor Who fan who won the show's competition to create an alien. Aside from starring opposite John Barrowman and David Tennant, Tim spent time on set talking to the stars and meeting Executive Producer Russell T Davies. 'We are really pleased that Tim had such a good time,' Russell told us. 'It felt like he was part of the team.'

So. One fantasy fulfilled for a Doctor Who fan? Check! And realising that for the rest of his life, Tim will be asked questions about his time in the TARDIS we got in there first...

What was the best part of the experience?

Working with John Barrowman! I'm such a big fan of his that to act opposite him was... well, fantastic! He's such a nice guy and gave me plenty of acting tips.

What was David Tennant like?

He's got such an aura about him. You know I really didn't know he was going to be there and it was such a surprise when he turned up. We spent time chatting about Doctor Who and specifically, the scene I was in. He's a spot on guy.

And did you meet Russell T Davies?

Yeah! Out of everyone, he was the one who's most like you see him onscreen. He's lovely. In fact at one point I was with all three of them, (David, John and Russell) just chatting in the TARDIS and that was the real 'Noooooo!!!!' moment! Like, this can't be happening! Unbelievable!

Aside from the people, what else sticks out about the experience?


Well, it really was a dream come true. A once in a lifetime thing, and it's not properly sunk in yet. I don't think it will before I see it onscreen. But the people, as I've said, were great and the director, Alice Troughton was so supportive. But apart from that - the TARDIS! It's a cliché to say it but it's like it really is bigger on the inside! Huge! And so detailed! I was looking at the console and it's full of quirky little things. John didn't know where all the stuff had come from but imagined that they had found some of it lying around and decided to just stick in on and go with it! But, yeah, it was amazing being on set.

Are you looking forward to the forthcoming specials?

Yes! David has made such an impact as the Doctor and I'm sure he'll be brilliant... and Russell will put his heart and soul into writing them [the specials] so they will all be fantastic. We talked a little about them and although he didn't give much away it's obvious they're going to be good!

The special TARDIS scene in Tonight's the Night was written by Russell T Davies and directed by Alice Troughton. It was produced by Brian Minchin, Assistant Producer of Captain Jack's upcoming series, Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Don't forget, you can watch the entire episode of Tonight's the Night by visiting its official site which also gives details about other features on the show.