The 50th anniversary special for Doctor Who just added David Tennant and Billie Piper to its cast.

The news just broke this morning. Previously Billie Piper had denied her involvement as did her fellow Russell T. Davies era companion, Freema Agyeman, who played Martha Jones. So far, Catherine Tate, who played Donna Noble, has not spoken about the series in any capacity.

David Tennant went from initially completely denying his involvement to non-committal answers starting roughly three months ago. In a red carpet video he stated, “I can’t imagine there even are gonna be any anniversary celebrations, are there? Look at my agent getting twitchy!”

Christopher Eccleston, the 9th Doctor, very much followed the pattern of Tennant though he was initially far more resistant to the idea of returning to the series. It is widely thought that Eccleston had major creative differences with the showrunners during his tenure.

According to Blogtour Who, they seem to have gotten an advance copy of the month’s Doctor Who Magazine, the return of Piper and Tennant is a done deal:

As filming on the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special begins, some details have emerged regarding the episode. The new issue of Doctor Who Magazine, out next week, have confirmed that David Tennant (The Tenth Doctor) and Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) have signed up to appear in the special. Also starring is screen legend, John Hurt (Alien).

UPDATE: The special will be sixty minutes long (though could end up being slightly longer) and receive a limited worldwide 3D cinema release.

UPDATE: The BBC has now confirmed this story as accurate.

According to Doctor Who TV, other cast members for the 50th anniversary special include Ken Bones, Orlando James, and Marshall Griffin.

So far, the other remaining Doctors have all signed on to do a radio drama, but there is no news of their involvement in the 50th anniversary show itself.

Are you happy that Rose Tyler and Doctor 10 will again be returning to Doctor Who? Who else do you want back?