The TARDIS returns to BBC One and iPlayer in the UK from Saturday 25th November with the first of three Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials, taking viewers on an otherworldly adventure in space and time each Saturday.
The third episode in the long-awaited trilogy, ‘The Giggle’, was filmed extensively in Bristol’s Old City last year with support from Bristol Film Office and will premiere on Saturday 9th December.
To mark the occasion, we’ve created a brand new Doctor Who in Bristol Movie Map plotting every Bristol filming location featured in Doctor Who over the past 60 years.
About the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials
Airing on 25th November, the first episode in the trilogy – ‘The Star Beast’ – sees the Doctor and Donna Noble come face to face after all these years, but just how, and why, is about to be revealed. Joining them in the trilogy is a stellar cast including Yasmin Finney as Rose Noble, Miriam Margolyes as the voice of the Meep, Jacqueline King as Sylvia Noble, Karl Collins as Shaun Temple, Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne-Bingham, Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker, set to cause all kinds of mayhem. It’s going to be an unmissable cosmic adventure, all before Fifteenth Doctor Ncuti Gatwa gets the keys to the TARDIS over the festive season.
Part three: ‘The Giggle’
Bristol Film Office facilitated the filming of major action scenes for the third episode in the trilogy – ‘The Giggle’ – on and around Clare Street in Bristol’s Old City in June 2022, featuring the Doctor (David Tennant), Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) and Hollywood and Broadway star Neil Patrick Harris as The Toymaker. With staged explosions, tanks, soldiers, wrecked vehicles, large numbers of supporting artists and crew – and of course, the TARDIS – the elaborate shoot generated a great deal of excitement from the Bristol public.
Clare Street’s junction with St Stephen’s Avenue and Marsh Street will be recognisable to viewers thanks to the distinctive flower pattern on the road surface. Tennant and Tate also filmed scenes in and around the nearby churchyard at the historic St Stephens Church. Nearby Broad Street was also used during filming. Creperie Chez Marcel was redressed to become a toyshop called ‘Mr Emporium’. Filming also took place in a nearby alleyway connecting Broad Street to neighbouring Small Street, where the TARDIS was parked.
The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary trilogy is produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios and Disney Branded Television. Watch ‘The Star Beast’ on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 6.30pm on Saturday 25 November. The second 60th anniversary special, ‘Wild Blue Yonder’, will follow at 6.30pm on Saturday 2 December. ‘The Giggle’ will air from 6.30pm on Saturday 9 December, completing the trio of anniversary specials. A special episode of Doctor Who Unleashed will follow, going behind the scenes of The Giggle and speaking to the Toymaker, Neil Patrick Harris.
The ‘Doctor Who in Bristol’ Movie Map
Bristol has hosted filming for BBC hit Doctor Who many, many times. The Classic series of what has now become the longest running sci fi show of all time, ran from 23rd November 1963 to 6th December 1989. The iconic show was then revived 16 years later, in 2005. Our ‘Doctor Who in Bristol’ Movie Map explores the locations in Bristol and the surrounding area that have featured in The Doctor’s adventures throughout the decades, including:
- Revenge of the Cybermen (Series 12 Eps 17-20, 1975)
- The Hand of Fear (Series 14 Eps 5-8, 1976)
- The Sun Makers (Series 15 Eps 13-17, 1977)
- The End of Time (Christmas Special, broadcast 25 Dec 2009 & 1 Jan 2010)
- Night Terrors (Series 6 Ep 9, 2011)
- The Snowmen (Christmas Special, 2012)
- The Angels Take Manhattan (Series 7 Ep 5, 2012)
- Asylum of the Daleks (Series 7 Ep 1, 2012)
- Hide (Series 7 Ep 9, 2013)
- The Husbands of River Song (Christmas Special, 2015)
- Thin Ice (Series 10 Ep 3, 2017)
- The Empress of Mars (Season 10 Ep 9, 2017)
- Revolution of the Daleks (Christmas special, 2021)
- Eve of the Daleks (Christmas special, 1 January 2022)
- The Power of the Doctor (Centenary episode, 23 October 2022)
- The Giggle (60th Anniversary episode, 9th December 2023)
- The Church on Ruby Road (Festive Special, 25th December 2023)
View our ‘Doctor Who in Bristol’ Movie Map here, or click here to see our full collection of Movie Maps.
Check out Visit Bristol’s ‘Doctor Who 60th anniversary filming locations in Bristol’ blog here.