Entertainment

Shannen Doherty Just Joined The New '90210' Series To Reunite With Most Of The Original Cast

by Parry Ernsberger
Earl Gibson III/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Get ready for Brenda Walsh to head back to Beverly Hills. According to an exclusive report from Deadline on April 26, Shannen Doherty will be returning for the new 90210 reboot series on Fox. Yep, it's official. That means that like, almost the entire original gang is getting back together.

Up until today, it wasn't exactly clear whether or not Doherty was going to be a part of BH90210 at all. She hadn't publicly said she would, but she hadn't publicly said that she wouldn't, either. Actually, she hadn't really said much of anything about it.

After Deadline's announcement, though, Doherty finally confirmed the news herself on Instagram. She posted a killer throwback photo of the entire original cast, all of whom were wearing different colored shirts that read "Beverly Hills 90210." Well, everyone except Jason Priestly for some reason (Too cool for school, huh, Brandon Walsh? Typical). The photo itself show the original cast wearing some very '90s jeans and it's a total flashback to the era. Talk about nostalgia.

Doherty seemed to express a similar sentiment with the caption of her post. "Yes it’s official," she wrote. "The real question is.... will we still be rocking those outfits. #bh90210."

Doherty was the last remaining, original cast member to sign-on for the reboot, but her much-anticipated confirmation was definitely worth the wait. Fox announced the gang's new show back in February, and said that Jason Priestley (Brandon Walsh), Jennie Garth (Kelly Taylor), Ian Ziering (Steve Sanders), Gabrielle Carteris (Andrea Zuckerman), Brian Austin Green (David Silver), and Tori Spelling (Donna Martin) would all be on it.

At the time, Luke Perry — who played Doherty's rebellious boyfriend, Dylan McKay, for several seasons — wasn't able to sign-on full-time due to his conflicting commitment with filming Riverdale, where he starred as Archie Andrews' father, Fred. There was talk of him making occasional appearances on the new 90210, but Perry tragically and unexpectedly passed away in March after a suffering a stroke.

Shortly after Perry's death, though, CBS TV Studios president David Stapf said they would somehow pay tribute to the late actor within the reboot, according to Variety. "How we deal with [Perry's passing] moving forward is yet to be determined," Stapf remarked. "That’s something the writers are going to have to figure out."

Perhaps Doherty finally decided to join the new 90210 to honor Perry in some way. Their characters were the center of a pretty epic love story throughout the original show, and she and Perry had reportedly stayed close over the years.

Following his death, Doherty told People that she was, "Devastated by the loss of my friend. I have so many memories with Luke that make me smile and that are forever imprinted on my heart and mind," she added.

Hopefully, filming BH90210 will help bring back even more joyful memories of Perry for Doherty and the rest of the cast. It certainly won't be the same without him, but he'll always live on through the people who loved him — both on and off-screen.