Doctor Who favourites Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill confirmed for Unleashed anniversary special
The Ponds are joining an already stacked line-up to celebrate the revival's 20th anniversary.
Pond fans, it's time to get excited! It has been confirmed that Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, who played Amy Pond and Rory Williams during the Eleventh Doctor's era of Doctor Who, will be appearing in the previously announced Unleashed special.
The special, confirmed to be an hour long, will be hosted as usual by Steffan Powell, and will take viewers on a journey through Doctor Who's history since 2005, when it was revived, to mark the 20th anniversary of that moment.
Gillan and Darvill join a host of previously announced stars and showrunners who will be interviewed throughout the special, including Ncuti Gatwa, David Tennant, Jodie Whittaker, Varada Sethu, Billie Piper, Pearl Mackie, Mandip Gill, Steven Moffat, Chris Chibnall and Russell T Davies.
We also now have a release date for the special, which will arrive on BBC iPlayer on Saturday 7th June at 6am, and will air later that day on BBC Three and BBC One Wales.
This means Who fans won't need to be too bereft at the end of this week's season finale, The Reality War, as they have more Whoniverse content on the way very soon.
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It has also been confirmed that, throughout the special, Powell will speak with former production designer Edward Thomas and costume designer Ray Holman, to get some behind-the-scenes insights.
Gillan last appeared on Doctor Who in 2013, when she made a cameo towards the end of Matt Smith's final episode, The Time of the Doctor.
Meanwhile, Darvill was last seen in the previous year's episode The Angels Take Manhattan, in which Rory and Amy's time in the TARDIS came to an end.
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In 2023, to coincide with Doctor Who's 60th anniversary, Darvill spoke with RadioTimes.com exclusively, and revealed that he "absolutely wouldn’t say no" to returning as Rory, having previously been reticent.
"My fear with it before was I think the storyline we had was so perfect and so rounded that I just wouldn’t want anything to take away from that," he explained.
"Now we’re a bit older, I think at some point, even if it’s just a one-off, it’d be really interesting to do something more with it. Never say never!"
Doctor Who continues on Saturday 31st May 2025 on BBC One and on BBC iPlayer at 6:50pm in the UK. The series is available on Disney+ outside of the UK.
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Authors
James Hibbs is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering programmes across both streaming platforms and linear channels. He previously worked in PR, first for a B2B agency and subsequently for international TV production company Fremantle. He possesses a BA in English and Theatre Studies and an NCTJ Level 5 Diploma in Journalism.
