Excitement for the upcoming Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials continues to grow, now with a new picture of Doctor Who's newest cast member Ruth Madeley alongside Catherine Tate and David Tennant. Talk about a happy reunion, right?

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Although details about Madeley's Doctor Who character remain somewhat of a mystery for now, the BAFTA TV Awards pictures will nonetheless be a welcome sight for Whovians who are patiently anticipating this year's anniversary extravaganza.

In the Instagram post, which Madeley captioned with "BAFTA spam-a-lam ("Allons-y!")", the actress can be seen posing alongside a host of actors and actresses, including Tate and another snap with David and Georgia Tennant.

In the accompanying shots, Madeley is seen smiling with The Cleaner co-star Greg Davies and also Ben Whishaw, who she presented the Supporting Actress Award with on the night.

Of course, Madeley was a host on the night of the BAFTA TV Awards, as well as Tate and Tennant who jointly presented the award for Features at Sunday night's ceremony. While the event was home to political statements, laughs and heartfelt moments, Tennant's admission that he'd never been nominated for a BAFTA sent shockwaves through the Doctor Who fanbase.

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He has been nominated for BAFTA Scotland and Wales but not the main BAFTAs, a fact that sent Twitter into a tailspin.

Even so, the picture reunion with Madeley, Tate and Tennant only gives us a small teaser of what's to come in this year's episodes, which will feature Madeley in "an integral role in the new Whoniverse".

The actress announced the news of her involvement in the long-running sci-fi series back on Christmas Day 2022, when she tweeted a picture of herself and after her brief appearance in the trailer for the 60th anniversary.

And she's certainly no stranger to the Doctor Who universe, having voiced the character of marine biologist Hebe Harrison in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio dramas as a new companion to the Sixth Doctor.

Her character of Shirley Ann Bingham in the upcoming specials remains a closely guarded secret, though – and we couldn't be more excited to find out more.

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At the time of her casting announcement, executive producer Phil Collinson confirmed in Doctor Who Magazine: “It’s our great delight to show an all-too-brief moment of Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne Bingham. There’s lots more of Shirley to come, as she plays an integral role in the new Whoniverse.”

The anniversary specials are still a while away, with them expected to air on BBC One in November, but the recent trailer – which aired amidst the Eurovision excitement – has only excited fans further, revealing the titles for the three upcoming specials: The Star Beast, Wild Blue Yonder, and The Giggle.

The specials will also form the introduction of Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor, who will be starring in an all-new season under returning showrunner Russell T Davies, who has teased that the new episodes are "so good" and has promised fans "a completely new Doctor, and yet a Doctor utterly faithful to the 60 years that came before".

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here. Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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