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Legendary! Neil Patrick Harris boards 'Doctor Who' as ultimate villain in honor of 60th anniversary
The TARDIS is about to get LEGEN — wait for it — DARY!
The next year of televised Doctor Who content is going to be LEGEN — wait for it — DARY! That's because Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, A Series of Unfortunate Events) will step aboard the TARDIS for the show's 60th anniversary celebration plans in 2023.
Posting on Instagram, returning showrunner Russell T Davies described Harris' mystery character as "the greatest enemy the Doctor has ever faced." The BBC also provided loyal audiences with a first look image, which you can check out for yourself below. Based on this static sneak peak, we'd wager that the Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award-winning actor has been tapped to play some sort of grumpy, yet brilliant, inventor modeled in the vein of Ebenezer Scrooge. Of course, we could be way off on that guess.
“It’s my huge honor to open our studio doors for the mighty Neil Patrick Harris… but who, why, what is he playing? You’ll just have to wait," Davies said in a statement. "But I promise you, the stuff we’re shooting now is off the scale. Doctor beware!”
Via Instagram, Harris thanked Davies for welcoming him into the "Whoniverse" and promised to "try my hardest to do my worst. This Doctor has no idea what’s in store. And even if he does… Who cares? Ha ha ha HA ha-ha-ha!"
Davies, who helped revive the Doctor Who property all the way back in the mid-2000s, hasn't been a part of the show for over a decade now. Harris is just one part of the 60th anniversary blowout, which is also set to include David Tennant and Catherine Tate as the Tenth Doctor and Companion Donna Noble, respectively.
Last month, Ncuti Gatwa (Sex Education) landed the coveted role of the 14th regeneration of the titular time-traveling alien. The current Doctor (played by Jodie Whittaker for a total of three seasons) will wrap up her tenure later this year in a third and final special.
“There aren’t quite the words to describe how I’m feeling," Gwata, who is the first Black actor to tackle the long-running sci-fi character, said in a statement at the time. "A mix of deeply honored, beyond excited, and of course a little bit scared. This role and show means so much to so many around the world, including myself, and each one of my incredibly talented predecessors has handled that unique responsibility and privilege with the utmost care. I will endeavor my utmost to do the same."
Little is known about Season 14, other than the fact that Yasmin Finney is set to play a supporting character named Rose.
Looking for more sci-fi TV? Check out shows like Resident Alien, Brave New World, Project Blue Book, Eureka, Heroes, Intergalactic and more streaming now on Peacock. Looking ahead, SYFY has the new series The Ark in the works from original Stargate film producer Dean Devlin, as well as Stargate SG-1 producer Jonathan Glassner.
