Doctor Who has a great tradition of supporting Red Nose Day. Check out what we’ve seen in the past, and what we might get this next Friday.
Red Nose Day comes along every two years and combines two very British things: having a laugh and helping others. Specifically, the event looks to raise money for in need in the U.K. and in Africa. As part of Red Nose Day, a program called Comic Relief begins its marathon broadcast on BBC1 next Friday March 13, starting at 7:00 p.m. GMT. The Doctor Who team has done a sketch or made an appearance on the show since 2009.
2009 — David Tennant and Catherine Tate in school
In this classic sketch, Catherine Tate’s iconic Lauren Cooper character (a loud-mouthed, chav student) meets her new teacher played by David Tennant. It then crosses over into Doctor Who territory with classic gadgets, and a reference to Billie Piper who played companion Rose Tyler.
2011 — Amy, Rory, and The Doctor
This one is a classic. It’s a mini-episode showing life inside the Tardis when Amy (Karen Gillan) and Rory (Arthur Darvill) were travelling with the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith). One of the highlights is poking fun at Amy’s skirt length being a distraction. At the time, Karen Gillan’s skirts and their height were seen as highly controversial with some viewers.
2013 — Matt Smith the 3-D Doctor
Alas, this one is not quite up to the standard of the previous Red Nose Day hijinks. If nothing else, Red Nose Day should be funny. This isn’t so much funny as it is predicable and groan-worthy. In fairness, at the time, they were busy working on the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special, so maybe they didn’t have much time to be creative.
According to the Radio Times, the current Doctor, Peter Capaldi, recently visited one of the locations in Africa that will be receiving funding. He was very moved by the experience. Former Doctor David Tennant has also made such trips to witness first-hand what needs are.
Upon visiting the rural village of Belesoni located in Malawi, Capladi remarked, “Like everything I’d seen, this was a challenging and complex situation that Comic Relief had chosen to help tackle – no quick wins or fancy gimmicks here. But Richard Curtis (Comic Relief organizer) had been right. People’s generosity really does translate into truly extraordinary change – and I’m very glad indeed I was there to witness it.”
According to the Radio Times, Doctor Who will not be putting up a sketch in the upcoming 2015 broadcast. They state, “And focusing on the serious side of Comic Relief, Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi, Broadchurch’s Olivia Colman and Luther’s Idris Elba are among those presenting appeal films showing how donations can help to change lives in both the U.K. and Africa.” So it looks like we won’t have a sketch, or a mini-episode, rather a personal appeal from Peter Capaldi.
The cast and crew have been very busy this past week filming on the Spanish island of Tenerife located off the coast of Morocco. Those on site included Clara (Jenna Coleman), the Master/Missy (Michelle Gomez), and the Doctor (Peter Capaldi). The new season has no official air date yet, but it will likely be late summer/early fall of 2015.