David Tennant and Billie Piper Confirmed for DOCTOR WHO's 50th Anniversary

And here we go...

Just hours before the premiere of "The Bells of Saint John," the BBC has announced some of the major guest stars for Doctor Who's 50th anniversary special this November.  As expected, former Tenth Doctor David Tennant will be returning along with Billie Piper, who played his companion Rose Tyler.  They will join current Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and his companion Clara Oswin Oswald, played by Jenna-Louise Coleman.

This will be their first return to Doctor Who since Tennant's final episode, "The End of Time, Part Two," on January 1, 2010.  However, as diehard Whovians know, it's possible that Tennant may not be reprising the Tenth Doctor.  In the episode "Journey's End," Rose remained on a parallel Earth with a half-human duplicate of the Tenth Doctor and Tennant could potentially reprise this Doctor instead.

Also announced as a guest star was the legendary actor John Hurt, famous for his roles in Alien, V for Vendetta, Hellboy, the Harry Potter films and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.  Hurt's role in the 50th anniversary special is currently unknown.

Filming for the 50th anniversary special begins this week in the UK, written by Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat and directed by Nick Hurran.

This may be just the first of a series of major announcements, so here's hoping that Christopher Eccleston, Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Colin Baker, Peter Davison and Tom Baker soon follow.