David Tennant: Difference between revisions
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[[ | {{Infobox Person | ||
''' | |image = DavidTennantITVInterview.jpg | ||
|role = {{il|[[Tenth Doctor]]|[[Fourteenth Doctor]]}} | |||
|birth date = [[18 April (people)|18 April]] [[1971 (people)|1971]] | |||
|aka = David John McDonald | |||
|time = 2005-2010, 2022-2023 (television)<br> | |||
2001-2005, 2016-present (audio) | |||
|non dwu = ''Broadchurch'', ''[[Harry Potter|Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire]]'', ''Jessica Jones'', ''Criminal: United Kingdom'', ''How To Train Your Dragon'', ''Postman Pat: The Movie'', ''Good Omens'' | |||
|imdb = 0855039 | |||
|clip = David Tennant on Doctor Who exit - BBC One | |||
|clip2 = David Tennant and Catherine Tate The Full Interview | |||
|clip3 = David Tennant's NTA Special Recognition - His Reaction | |||
|job title = Actor | |||
|story = [[#Credits|See Credits Section]] | |||
}}{{you may|David Tennant (Tonight's the Night)|n1=the Non-DWU character|David Tennant at Big Finish|n2=the audio documentary}} | |||
'''David Tennant''' (born [[18 April (people)|18 April]] [[1971 (people)|1971]]<ref>Who's Who in Scotland, ISBN 978-0-9565748-8-6</ref> <ref>[[REF]]: ''[[Who-ology: The Official Miscellany]]''</ref> as '''David John McDonald''') played the [[Tenth Doctor]] on ''[[Doctor Who]]'' from 2005-2010, later returning to the role in the 50th anniversary special, ''[[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|The Day of the Doctor]]'', and in [[Big Finish Productions]]' [[David Tennant#Audio|audio adventures]]. He later portrayed the [[Fourteenth Doctor]] on the show in the [[2023 specials|60th anniversary specials]]. Prior to playing the Doctor, Tennant also portrayed several characters in various [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]] audio adventures. | |||
==Biography== | == Biography == | ||
David grew up in Ralston, Renfrewshire, where his father was the local minister, and later Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of [[Scotland]]. | === Before ''Doctor Who'' === | ||
David grew up in Ralston, Renfrewshire, where his father, [[Sandy McDonald]], was the local minister, and later Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of [[Scotland]]. At the age of three, David told his parents that he wanted to become an actor, largely because of his early enjoyment of ''[[Doctor Who]]''. Although such an aspiration might have been common for a Scottish child of the 1970s, Tennant says he was "absurdly single-minded" in pursuing his goal. He adopted the professional name "Tennant" — inspired by Neil Tennant, the lead singer of the Pet Shop Boys — because the actors' union [[Equity]] already had a David McDonald on their books. | |||
Moving to [[London]] in the early | Moving to [[London]] in the early 1990s, Tennant lodged with comic actress and writer [[Arabella Weir]], with whom he became close friends and later godfather to one of her children. He appeared as a guest in her spoof television series ''Posh Nosh''. Tennant began his career in the British theatre, frequently performing with the Royal [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] Company for which he specialised in comic roles such as Touchstone in ''As You Like It'', Antipholus of Syracuse in ''The Comedy of Errors'' and Captain Jack Absolute in ''The Rivals'', although he also played the tragic role of Romeo in ''Romeo and Juliet''. | ||
He has appeared in several high-profile dramas for the BBC, including ''He Knew He Was Right'' ( | He has appeared in several high-profile dramas for the BBC, including ''Takin' Over the Asylum'', (1994) a six-part BBC Scotland serial in which he played a manic depressive named Campbell, ''He Knew He Was Right'' (2004), ''Blackpool'' (2004), ''Casanova'' (2005) and ''The Quatermass Experiment'' (2005). In film, he has appeared in [[Stephen Fry]]'s ''Bright Young Things'', and as {{iw|harrypotter|Bartemius Crouch Jr.|Barty Crouch Jr}} in ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'', alongside [[Roger Lloyd Pack]] who played [[John Lumic]] in ''[[Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)|Rise of the Cybermen]]'' and ''[[The Age of Steel (TV story)|The Age of Steel]]'', and [[Michael Gambon]]. One of his earliest big screen roles was in ''Jude'' (1996), in which he shared a scene with his ''Doctor Who'' predecessor [[Christopher Eccleston]], playing a drunken undergraduate who challenges Eccleston's Jude to prove his intellect. | ||
He has | === Initial ''Doctor Who'' roles === | ||
He has lent his voice to several supporting characters in [[Big Finish Productions|Big Finish]] audio plays based on the 1963 version of ''Doctor Who''. His first story was ''[[Colditz (audio story)|Colditz]]'' (also guest starring [[Tracey Childs]], who later appeared in ''[[The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)|The Fires of Pompeii]]''), where he played the German officer [[Kurtz]]. He later played two versions of [[Ross Brimmicombe-Wood]] in ''[[Sympathy for the Devil (audio story)|Sympathy for the Devil]]'' and the [[UNIT (audio series)|UNIT]] story ''[[The Wasting (audio story)|The Wasting]]'', [[Daft Jamie]] in ''[[Medicinal Purposes (audio story)|Medicinal Purposes]]'', a [[Time Lord 2 (Exile)|Time Lord]] in ''[[Exile (audio story)|Exile]]'' and [[Galanar]] in the [[Dalek Empire III|third series]] of ''[[Dalek Empire (audio series)|Dalek Empire]]''. | |||
He was also a minor participant to the first "official" [[Ninth Doctor (Scream of the Shalka)|Ninth Doctor]] story, the BBC animated webcast ''[[Scream of the Shalka (webcast)|Scream of the Shalka]]''. Not originally cast in the production, Tennant happened to be recording a radio play in a neighbouring studio and, when he discovered what was being recorded next door, managed to convince the director to give him a small role.<ref>[[DWM 336]]</ref> | |||
He | He also played the title role in Big Finish's adaptation of Bryan Talbot's ''The Adventures of Luther Arkwright'' (2005). | ||
Tennant | === Playing the Doctor === | ||
Tennant's name was suggested by tabloid newspapers as a possible candidate to take on the role of the [[Ninth Doctor]] for the new series that began in March 2005, though he was never considered for or auditioned for the role itself, and the role went to [[Christopher Eccleston]]. He got a chance to have a peripheral connection to the series when he narrated a prelude episode of ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' that aired prior to the broadcast of ''[[Rose (TV story)|Rose]]''. | |||
With Eccleston's announcement on [[30 March (production)|30 March]] that he would not be returning for a second series, the BBC confirmed Tennant as his replacement in a press release on [[16 April (production)|16 April]]. An oblique reference to his casting, however, had already been made in the live broadcast of ''The Quatermass Experiment'' on 2 April, in which Tennant appeared as Dr Briscoe. As his castmates had become aware of the speculation surrounding Tennant's possible casting in ''Doctor Who'' during rehearsals, actor Jason Flemyng changed Quatermass's first line to Dr Briscoe from "Good to have you back, Gordon" to "Good to have you back, Doctor". He made his first, brief appearance in the episode ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'' (2005) after the [[regeneration]] scene, and also appeared in a special [[Children in Need Special (TV story)|7-minute mini-episode]] shown as part of the 2005 Children in Need appeal, broadcast on 18 November 2005 (coincidentally the same day ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'', in which he played Barty Crouch Jr., was released to theatres). While Eccleston holds the distinction of being the first man to play the Doctor not even born when the series premiered, Tennant is the first Doctor who was not even conceived, as Eccleston was born during the first season. | |||
Tennant began filming the new series of ''Doctor Who'' in late July 2005. His first full-length outing as the Doctor was a 60-minute special, ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'', which was broadcast on [[Christmas|Christmas Day]] 2005, and followed by ''[[Attack of the Graske (video game)|Attack of the Graske]]'', a special interactive story available to BBC Red Button subscribers. He was also seen in early December in the ITV drama ''Secret Smile''. In December 2005, ''The Stage'' newspaper listed Tennant at #6 in its "Top Ten" listing of the most influential [[UK]] television artists of the year, citing his roles in ''Blackpool'', ''Casanova'', ''Secret Smile'' and ''Doctor Who''. | |||
Unlike his predecessor, Christopher Eccleston, who confessed to having only a passing interest in the 1963 version of ''Doctor Who'', Tennant is a long-time fan of the series and has exhibited extensive knowledge of its history and trivia in interviews, podcasts and DVD commentaries. In March 2009 he gave a demonstration of his knowledge of the franchise during a mock edition of ''Mastermind'' for the BBC's [[Comic Relief]] Red Nose Day telethon. He has often expressed enthusiasm about fulfilling his childhood dream. He remarked to an interviewer for GWR FM, "Who wouldn't want to be the Doctor? I've even got my own [[TARDIS]]!" Like [[Peter Davison]] before him, Tennant was knowledgeable enough about the program to ask for his character to be credited as "The Doctor" instead of "Doctor Who", as had been done during Eccleston's tenure. Along with Colin Baker, he also has the distinction of being the only Doctor actor to provide DVD commentary for ''another'' Doctor's story when he recorded a special "Easter egg" commentary for the DVD Special Edition release of ''[[The Five Doctors (TV story)|The Five Doctors]]''. | |||
Outside the TV series itself, Tennant is a ubiquitous presence on various ancillary productions related to ''Doctor Who'', and it is not inaccurate to suggest he might be one of the most accessible actors to ever play the Doctor. He has regularly appeared in ''[[Doctor Who Confidential]]'' — a program for which he also notably picked up his first television [[Director (crew)|directing]] credit, the episode "[[Do You Remember the First Time? (CON episode)|Do You Remember the First Time?]]" - and in fact, has conducted a number of the interviews for the program himself. He was the narrator for ''[[Doctor Who: A New Dimension (CON episode)|Doctor Who: A New Dimension]]'', the effective pilot for ''Confidential'', and an occasional guest on ''[[Totally Doctor Who]]''. He also recorded extensive behind the scenes video diaries of his work on ''Doctor Who'', which became highlights of the Series 2 and 3 DVD box sets. On some of the Series 3-related video diaries, he recruited his then-girlfriend [[Sophia Myles]] to handle the camera. He only recorded two for the Series 4 set but recorded more for the [[2009 Specials (Doctor Who)|2009 Specials DVD Box Set]], released in early 2010, relating to his final episodes. He has provided various video content for both the BBC's ''Doctor Who'' website, mainly in the form of short question-and-answer sessions. He has also taken part in licensed spin-off productions, recording audio-book readings of several [[BBC Books]] novels, as well as narrating several original audiobooks for [[BBC Audiobooks]]. | |||
Technically speaking, Tennant has actually played four roles in the televised ''Doctor Who'': The Tenth Doctor, [[Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17]] when she briefly takes over the Doctor's body, ([[TV]]: ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'') [[John Smith (Tenth Doctor)|John Smith]] who may be technically the Doctor but is depicted in the episodes ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'' and ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'' as a completely different personality, and a clone of the Doctor, referred to as the [[Meta-Crisis Doctor]]. | |||
He has also parodied the Doctor on several occasions, such as in a Comic Relief skit with future companion [[Catherine Tate]], a [[Dead Ringers]] skit in which he portrayed a "regenerated" [[Tony Blair]], and as the Doctor himself in the final episode of ''[[Doctor Who parodies#2000s|Extras]]''. His guest appearances on general entertainment programmes like ''The Friday Night Project'' and ''Jonathan Ross'' have also usually contained elements of ''Doctor Who'' parody. | |||
==Awards== | In January 2006, Tennant took a one-day break from shooting ''Doctor Who'' to play Richard Hoggart in a dramatisation of the 1960 ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' obscenity trial. Written by Andrew Davies and directed by ''<nowiki>Doctor Who'</nowiki>''s [[James Hawes]] for digital television channel BBC Four, Hoggart's son Simon Hoggart praised Tennant's portrayal in the drama in ''The Guardian'' newspaper. "[E]xtremely convincing — the suit, the hair, the Yorkshire accent, and trickiest of all, the speech rhythms. The only thing wrong is his sideburns. To do this film he had to take 24 hours off from making ''Doctor Who'' in [[Cardiff]] and, as he explained, the sideburns wouldn't grow back in a day."<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1686290,00.html]</ref> | ||
Also in January 2006, readers of the British [[homosexuality|gay and lesbian]] newspaper {{wi|The Pink Paper}} voted Tennant the "Sexiest Man in the Universe" over [[David Beckham]] and [[Brad Pitt]]. Tennant has also on several occasions unseated perennial favourite [[Tom Baker]] in the "Favourite Doctor" category in recent polls conducted by ''[[Doctor Who Magazine]]''. | |||
In 2007 it was announced that, rather than air a full season in 2009, a series of specials would instead be broadcast, with the series returning as a weekly offering in 2010. This led to Tennant signing on to star in a production of ''[[Hamlet]]'', opposite Patrick Stewart. In 2008 rumours began circulating as to whether Tennant would continue in ''Doctor Who''. This was finally confirmed on [[29 October (production)|29 October]] 2008 when Tennant, upon winning the 2008 National Television Award for favourite actor, announced that he would be leaving ''Doctor Who'' after the 2009 specials. It was subsequently announced that 26-year old [[Matt Smith]] would take on the role from 2010. | |||
Tennant spent the last part of 2008 preparing to play Hamlet, although his run was interrupted due to a serious spinal injury that necessitated major surgery. By January 2009 he had recovered and commenced filming the first of his final four special episodes. It was subsequently announced that Tennant would recreate his stage performance as Hamlet for a planned television broadcast/theatrical release. | |||
Tennant filmed his final scenes for ''Doctor Who'' as the Doctor on Wednesday 20 May 2009, and gave an emotional farewell to cast and crew that was captured for both ''Doctor Who Confidential'' and Tennant's own Video Diaries DVD supplement. Despite the emotion of the moment, Tennant noted in his Video Diaries that his final scene - a green screen shot - made it less emotional for him than his regeneration scene, which had actually been filmed a week earlier. Also, the day after bidding farewell to ''Doctor Who'', Tennant briefly reprised the role to film a series of [[2009 BBC Christmas idents|short holiday-themed promos]] for BBC One. It was later announced he would play the role one last time in ''[[The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (TV story)|The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith]]'', a two-part episode of ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]''. Tennant also signed up to voice the Doctor for a second animated serial, ''[[Dreamland (TV story)|Dreamland]]'', which aired in late 2009 and continued to record original audio adventures for BBC Audio, the last of which was released in March 2010. He also appeared, as himself, in a Doctor Who skit involving [[John Barrowman]] broadcast during the series ''[[Tonight's the Night]]''. | |||
In the summer of 2009, Tennant became the first lead actor from ''Doctor Who'' to appear at the San Diego Comic Con. | |||
Despite his final appearance in ''Doctor Who'' concluding in the New Year's Day 2010 episode, Tennant appeared in the subsequent episode, Matt Smith's first full episode as the [[Eleventh Doctor]], ''[[The Eleventh Hour (TV story)|The Eleventh Hour]]'', which featured a sequence of "flashback" clips showing all previous Doctors. | |||
During his time as the Doctor, Tennant also guest-hosted and guest-starred on many other BBC programs. He was featured on ''Top Gear'', where he was discovered to be .7 seconds slower on the racetrack than [[Billie Piper]] - though he claimed that she cut corners, and also that he had problems with the 3rd gear of manual transmission. He was a guest on ''Ready, Steady, Cook'', in which he competed with his father, Sandy. He was a contestant on a Christmas episode of ''QI'', where his theme song was "''Last Christmas''" by ''Wham!'' and he co-hosted Comic Relief 2009 alongside Davina McCall. He was a guest host on Friday Night Project on two occasions, one opposite [[Freema Agyeman]], and hosted a special Christmas edition of ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'', which featured fellow ''Doctor Who'' actors [[Catherine Tate]] and [[Bernard Cribbins]], during which he revealed that he is a fan of Coldplay. | |||
In 2013, Tennant reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor in the 50th anniversary Special ''[[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|The Day of the Doctor]]'', and also appeared in various promotional videos. | |||
=== After ''Doctor Who'' === | |||
Tennant's first post-Who assignment was to film a movie version of his ''Hamlet'' production, opposite Patrick Stewart. This aired on BBC Two on 26 December 2009, the day after the first part of ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'', Tennant's last appearance, aired, and on American network PBS on 28 April 2010 and in addition to the fall of 2009, Tennant began hosting the PBS drama anthology series ''Masterpiece Contemporary'' in the US. | |||
Although fan and media rumours linked Tennant to other high-profile projects, such as the Peter Jackson-produced adaptation of ''The Hobbit'', most of these rumours were denied by Tennant or not confirmed. At the July 2009 San Diego ComicCon, Tennant indicated he had major projects under consideration but did not elaborate. Also in July, it was announced that Tennant would be appearing in ''St. Trinian's: The Secret of Fritton's Gold'', the second film in the rebooted Trinian's franchise. The film also features two of Tennant's ''Doctor Who'' guest stars: [[Fenella Woolgar]] and [[Talulah Riley]]. He was also cast to co-star with [[Simon Pegg]] in the upcoming {{w|John Landis}} film, ''Burke and Hare'', but had to drop out shortly before filming began, reportedly due to NBC refusing to release him from his contract for ''Rex Is Not Your Lawyer.'' | |||
In November 2009 it was announced that Tennant would star in the {{w|television pilot}} for NBC, ''Rex is Not Your Lawyer'', a comedic law drama. This makes Tennant the first Doctor actor to be given a lead role in an American TV series after leaving ''Doctor Who''. In reporting his casting, the ''Hollywood Reporter'' compared the situation to Hugh Laurie moving from UK comedy series like ''Blackadder'' to American superstardom on ''House''.<ref>[http://web.archive.org/20091106062720/www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i8161b51e045b5cf6f1b2296423bf7743 Hollywood Reporter story]</ref> The pilot, which paired Tennant with fellow science fiction TV alumnus Jerry O'Connell (''Sliders''), was filmed between early November and mid-December 2009. In late January, it was reported that Rex had not been picked up as a spring replacement, something that was never suggested as a realistic option but was still under consideration for a fall 2010 pickup, something which led the tabloid press to wrongly report the project had been shelved.<ref>[http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2010/01/24/nbc-delays-rex-is-not-your-lawyer/ Entertainment Weekly report]</ref> It was reported on January 24, 2010, that the sets had been dismantled and stored, and that the show had not been picked up for spring 2010. It was also passed over for the fall 2010 schedule. In September 2010, in an interview at the Emmy Awards, Tennant confirmed the project was "dead." | |||
In 2010, Tennant filmed the TV drama series ''Single Father'' and three films, ''The Decoy Bride, Fright Night, ''and'' United''. In ''Single Father'', which was shot in Scotland between March and May and screened on BBC1 in October, he played a father of five children struggling to cope after the death of his partner. ''The Decoy Bride'' was filmed in June and July in Scotland and on the Isle of Man and stars Tennant as the [[fiancé]] of a Hollywood movie star who falls for the local girl hired to be a 'decoy' to distract the paparazzo. <ref>[http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2010/05/chuck-v-flashforward.html NBC cancels 'Law & Order' mothership, 'Chuck' to return, 'Heroes' dead]</ref> Tennant was in New Mexico between August and October filming ''Fright Night'', a remake of the cult 80s horror film, in which he plays vampire hunter Peter Vincent, a part originated by Roddy McDowall. In October, he flew to Uganda to shoot a charity film for Comic Relief. In November and December Tennant filmed ''United'' in Newcastle, a drama about the 1958 Munich plane crash in which he stars as Manchester United coach Jimmy Murphy. All three films were released in 2011, though ''The Decoy Bride'' did not gain a wide release until 2012 when it went straight to cable TV. Also in 2010, he voiced the role of Spitelout, a minor character in ''How to Train Your Dragon''. Tennant is the narrator for the audiobook series of ''How To Train Your Dragon.'' | |||
In January 2011 Tennant announced that he and his Doctor Who co-star [[Catherine Tate]] would be starring in a theatre production of ''Much Ado About Nothing'', which ran at the Wyndham's Theatre in London between May and September 2011 (Tennant's close friend and Doctor Who alumnus [[Adam James]] also co-starred). During the months he was performing in the play, he also recorded a guest appearance in Sky sitcom ''This Is Jinsy ''(a role he took because his good friend [[Jennie Fava]], who 2nd ADed on both ''Doctor Who'' and ''This Is Jinsy'', recommended it to him), voiceover roles in two animated films and one animated TV series, an 8-hour BBC Radio 4 drama series, and multiple radio and TV narration projects. Two days after his final performance of ''Much Ado'', filming started in Margate on his next project, a BBC TV series called ''True Love,'' which also co-stars [[David Morrissey]] and [[Billie Piper]]. On 4 October, three days after Tennant finished filming ''True Love'', he started production in Coventry on the comedy film sequel ''Nativity 2'', which also co-stars [[Ian McNeice]] as Tennant's father. He filmed on ''Nativity 2 ''in Coventry, Warwickshire and north Wales until 29 November. The next day, he started filming a BBC documentary, ''Prefaces to Shakespeare'', in London and Stratford-upon-Avon. In 2011, Tennant "appeared" in a cameo as himself in the [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffyverse]] ''{{iw|buffy|Angel & Faith}}'' comic "{{iw|buffy|In Perfect Harmony}}". | |||
In January 2011, UK newspapers reported that he was engaged and planning a 2012 wedding to [[Georgia Moffett]], who starred opposite him in the 2008 episode ''[[The Doctor's Daughter (TV story)|The Doctor's Daughter]]'',<ref>http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/05/who_marriage/</ref> and that she was pregnant with the couple's first child. On [[31 March (people)|31 March]], UK newspapers reported that Moffett had given birth to a daughter, Olive, earlier that week. Neither Tennant nor Moffett themselves have ever spoken about or confirmed their relationship publicly and they avoid being photographed together. On 2 September 2011, he changed his name legally by deed poll from his birth name of McDonald to his stage name Tennant, and his soon-to-be wife changed her and her son from a previous relationship's surnames to Tennant also. The couple are reported to have married in a secret ceremony on 30 December 2011, and no details or photos from the event have ever been released. Tennant confirmed on the 21 March 2012 that he had adopted Moffett's 10-year old son Ty, making this the first time he has spoken about his private life since starting to date Moffett. In January 2013 it was confirmed on the Jonathan Ross Show that Moffett was pregnant again. She gave birth to a boy named Wilfred on 2nd May. | |||
In 2012, Tennant played a role in the one-off Sky Arts drama ''The Minor Character'' and continued to excel as a voice actor, playing roles in numerous audiobooks, radio plays, and other voice jobs. He also became the face of Virgin Media. He spent April-June in Poland filming the BBC4 WWII-set spy drama miniseries ''Spies of Warsaw'' (which also co-stars [[Burn Gorman]]). In June and July, he filmed the BBC2 political drama miniseries ''The Politician's Husband'' in London, playing a Cabinet minister who takes extreme lengths when his wife's career threatens to overshadow him. In August 2012 he visited Los Angeles to appear at the TCA event, promoting ''The Spies of Warsaw.'' On 4 August he started work on his first TV series regular role since leaving ''Doctor Who'', in the new ITV1 detective series ''Broadchurch'', created by [[Chris Chibnall]], which filmed in Bristol and Dorset until December. In August it was also announced that Tennant would be hosting a panel game show for C4, titled ''Comedy World Cup,'' his first time hosting a TV series other than as a guest host. He shot both series concurrently, filming ''Broadchurch'' in Bristol during the week and travelling to London on weekends to record ''Comedy World Cup''. | |||
On 9 September 2012, he made his first proper ''Doctor Who'' fan convention appearance, at the ''Lords of Time'' convention in Birmingham. On 16 December 2012, he appeared at the ''Midnight'' Convention also in Birmingham, alongside [[Billie Piper]]. | |||
In January 2013 Tennant recorded several audio books and radio plays, some TV commercials, and did publicity for ''Broadchurch'' and ''Spies of Warsaw''. It was also announced Tennant would be returning to the Royal Shakespeare Company to play the titular role in Richard II. Between January-April Tennant shot the BBC1 thriller series ''The Escape Artist'', playing a top lawyer who gets a murderer off on a technicality, but comes to regret it. Between April-May he filmed the ''Doctor Who'' 50th anniversary special, ''[[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|The Day of the Doctor]]'' in Cardiff, reprising his role as the Tenth Doctor. Between June-August, he shot the BBC comedy feature film ''What We Did On Our Holiday'' in Scotland. | |||
Between August 2013-January 2014 he played Richard II for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The day after the final Richard II performance, Tennant flew to Canada, where he spent five months filming the Fox series ''Gracepoint'', the US remake of ''Broadchurch''. He started work on series 2 of ''Broadchurch'' (which filmed on location in Dorset, Devon and North Somerset late May - October) two days after returning to the UK. In July he simultaneously worked on Broadchurch and a short film titled ''96 Ways to Say I Love You'', shooting the short on weekends and his days off from Broadchurch. In October he spent time in LA and NY, doing a promotional press tour for Gracepoint and auditioning for roles. | |||
In November 2013 he stated in a live chat that he had officially changed his name from David McDonald to David Tennant in order to comply with Screen Actors' Guild rules which stated he was only allowed to use his legal name when working in the US. <ref>https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/nov/05/ask-david-tennant-anything-livechat#comment-28627775/</ref> | |||
In the 2014 film ''Postman Pat: The Movie'', David voiced Wilf, a character who attempted to defeat Pat so he could win a singing competition. Wilf was also the name of David's second child and [[Wilfred Mott]]. | |||
In January 2015 he won a Special Recognition Award at the NTAs. Between February and August, he was in New York shooting the lead role of villain Kilgrave/The Purple Man on the Marvel/Netflix TV series Jessica Jones. During this time, he appeared at two American fan conventions, at Wizard World Raleigh in North Carolina in March, and with Billie Piper at Philadelphia Comic Con in May. In April he attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington DC, his wife Georgia Moffett travelling from England to accompany him to the prestigious event. In August, the day after his return from New York, he travelled to Cardiff for several days where he visited the Doctor Who set with Russell T Davies. He spent much of November in New York, doing a promotional tour for Jessica Jones. | |||
In November 2015, he announced on ''The Jonathan Ross Show'' that his wife had recently given birth to another daughter, her fourth child. | |||
In December 2015 he attended Comic Con Brazil in São Paulo. | |||
In January 2016 Tennant reprised his role in Richard II for the RSC's 'King and Country' season (all four history plays performed together) at the Barbican. In February 2016 he shot 'Mad to be Normal', a feature film biopic about RD Laing, in York. | |||
In March and April, Richard II transferred to New York. During this time he attended Wizard World convention in St Louis, alongside Billie Piper. He also presented a BBC special marking the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare. In May he began shooting Broadchurch series 3 in Dorset. | |||
Between March and June 2017, Tennant appeared in Patrick Marber's ''Don Juan in Soho'' at the Wyndham's Theatre. Also in 2017, he took over as the voice of Scrooge McDuck for Disney XD's [https://ducktales.fandom.com/wiki/DuckTales_(2017_TV_series) ''DuckTales'' reboot], replacing the character's longtime voice actor Alan Young, who died in May 2016. In addition to this, Tennant voiced the character of Buck Douglas in the 2017 [[Fireman Sam]] special, ''Fireman Sam: Alien Alert''. | |||
In 2018, Tennant was announced as playing the principal role in ''Good Omens'', a TV series based on the original novel by [[Neil Gaiman]] and [[Terry Pratchett]], opposite [[Michael Sheen]]. | |||
{{spotify|episode=71e6GISEsYUUwR2t9ijiBX}} | |||
In 2019, he began hosting his own podcast series, ''David Tennant Does a Podcast With...''. His first guest was [[Jodie Whittaker]], who plays the [[Thirteenth Doctor]]. Other guests include [[Olivia Colman]], [[Ian McKellen]] and ''Good Omens'' co-star Michael Sheen. | |||
== Playing a new Doctor == | |||
Tennant returned to the series as the [[Fourteenth Doctor]] starting with the twist ending of the 2022 BBC [[Centenary Special]] ''[[The Power of the Doctor (TV story)|The Power of the Doctor]],'' confirming online speculation that Tennant would be portraying a new incarnation rather than the Tenth Doctor following leaked images showing him being involved in the 60th anniversary specials, and becoming the first actor to have played two distinct numbered incarnations of the Doctor. He made his first full appearance as the Fourteenth Doctor in the 2023 ''[[Children in Need]]'' mini-episode ''[[Destination: Skaro (TV story)|Destination: Skaro]]'' and would appear in his first full adventure as the new incarnation in the [[2023 specials]]. | |||
== Credits == | |||
=== As the Tenth Doctor === | |||
==== Television ==== | |||
===== ''Doctor Who'' ===== | |||
* ''[[The Parting of the Ways (TV story)|The Parting of the Ways]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Christmas Invasion (TV story)|The Christmas Invasion]]'' | |||
* ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'' | |||
* ''[[Tooth and Claw (TV story)|Tooth and Claw]]'' | |||
* ''[[School Reunion (TV story)|School Reunion]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Girl in the Fireplace (TV story)|The Girl in the Fireplace]]'' | |||
* ''[[Rise of the Cybermen (TV story)|Rise of the Cybermen]]'' / ''[[The Age of Steel (TV story)|The Age of Steel]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Idiot's Lantern (TV story)|The Idiot's Lantern]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Impossible Planet (TV story)|The Impossible Planet]]'' / ''[[The Satan Pit (TV story)|The Satan Pit]]'' | |||
* ''[[Love & Monsters (TV story)|Love & Monsters]]'' | |||
* ''[[Fear Her (TV story)|Fear Her]]'' | |||
* ''[[Army of Ghosts (TV story)|Army of Ghosts]]'' / ''[[Doomsday (TV story)|Doomsday]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Runaway Bride (TV story)|The Runaway Bride]]'' | |||
* ''[[Smith and Jones (TV story)|Smith and Jones]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Shakespeare Code (TV story)|The Shakespeare Code]]'' | |||
* ''[[Gridlock (TV story)|Gridlock]]'' | |||
* ''[[Daleks in Manhattan (TV story)|Daleks in Manhattan]]'' / ''[[Evolution of the Daleks (TV story)|Evolution of the Daleks]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Lazarus Experiment (TV story)|The Lazarus Experiment]]'' | |||
* ''[[42 (TV story)|42]]'' | |||
* ''[[Human Nature (TV story)|Human Nature]]'' / ''[[The Family of Blood (TV story)|The Family of Blood]]'' | |||
* ''[[Blink (TV story)|Blink]]'' | |||
* ''[[Utopia (TV story)|Utopia]]'' / ''[[The Sound of Drums (TV story)|The Sound of Drums]]'' / ''[[Last of the Time Lords (TV story)|Last of the Time Lords]]'' | |||
* ''[[Voyage of the Damned (TV story)|Voyage of the Damned]]'' | |||
* ''[[Partners in Crime (TV story)|Partners in Crime]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Fires of Pompeii (TV story)|The Fires of Pompeii]]'' | |||
* ''[[Planet of the Ood (TV story)|Planet of the Ood]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Sontaran Stratagem (TV story)|The Sontaran Stratagem]]'' / ''[[The Poison Sky (TV story)|The Poison Sky]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Doctor's Daughter (TV story)|The Doctor's Daughter]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Unicorn and the Wasp (TV story)|The Unicorn and the Wasp]]'' | |||
* ''[[Silence in the Library (TV story)|Silence in the Library]]'' / ''[[Forest of the Dead (TV story)|Forest of the Dead]]'' | |||
* ''[[Midnight (TV story)|Midnight]]'' | |||
* ''[[Turn Left (TV story)|Turn Left]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Stolen Earth (TV story)|The Stolen Earth]]'' / ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Next Doctor (TV story)|The Next Doctor]]'' | |||
* ''[[Planet of the Dead (TV story)|Planet of the Dead]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Waters of Mars (TV story)|The Waters of Mars]]'' | |||
* ''[[The End of Time (TV story)|The End of Time]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Day of the Doctor (TV story)|The Day of the Doctor]]'' | |||
====== Mini-episodes ====== | |||
* ''[[Children in Need Special (TV story)|Children in Need Special]]'' | |||
* ''[[Time Crash (TV story)|Time Crash]]'' | |||
* ''[[Music of the Spheres (TV story)|Music of the Spheres]]'' | |||
====== Animated serials ====== | |||
* ''[[The Infinite Quest (TV story)|The Infinite Quest]]'' | |||
* ''[[Dreamland (TV story)|Dreamland]]'' | |||
===== ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' ===== | |||
* ''[[The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith (TV story)|The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith]]'' | |||
==== Video games ==== | |||
* ''[[Attack of the Graske (video game)|Attack of the Graske]]'' | |||
==== Audio ==== | |||
===== ''The Tenth Doctor Adventures'' ===== | |||
* ''[[Technophobia (audio story)|Technophobia]]'' | |||
* ''[[Time Reaver (audio story)|Time Reaver]]'' | |||
* ''[[Death and the Queen (audio story)|Death and the Queen]]'' | |||
* ''[[Infamy of the Zaross (audio story)|Infamy of the Zaross]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Sword of the Chevalier (audio story)|The Sword of the Chevalier]]'' | |||
* ''[[Cold Vengeance (audio story)|Cold Vengeance]]'' | |||
* ''[[No Place (audio story)|No Place]]'' | |||
* ''[[One Mile Down (audio story)|One Mile Down]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Creeping Death (audio story)|The Creeping Death]]'' | |||
===== ''Out of Time'' ===== | |||
* ''[[Out of Time (audio story)|Out of Time]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Gates of Hell (audio story)|The Gates of Hell]]'' | |||
* ''[[Wink (audio story)|Wink]]'' | |||
===== ''The Tenth Doctor and River Song'' ===== | |||
* ''[[Expiry Dating (audio story)|Expiry Dating]]'' | |||
* ''[[Precious Annihilation (audio story)|Precious Annihilation]]'' | |||
* ''[[Ghosts (audio story)|Ghosts]]'' | |||
===== ''Dalek Universe'' ===== | |||
* ''[[Dalek Universe 1]]'' | |||
** ''[[Buying Time (audio story)|Buying Time]]'' | |||
** ''[[The Wrong Woman (audio story)|The Wrong Woman]]'' | |||
** ''[[The House of Kingdom (audio story)|The House of Kingdom]]'' | |||
* ''[[Dalek Universe 2]]'' | |||
** ''[[Cycle of Destruction (audio story)|Cycle of Destruction]]'' | |||
** ''[[The Trojan Dalek (audio story)|The Trojan Dalek]]'' | |||
** ''[[The Lost (audio story)|The Lost]]'' | |||
* ''[[Dalek Universe 3]]'' | |||
** ''[[The First Son (audio story)|The First Son]]'' | |||
** ''[[The Dalek Defence (audio story)|The Dalek Defence]]'' | |||
** ''[[The Triumph of Davros (audio story)|The Triumph of Davros]]'' | |||
===== ''Jenny: The Doctor's Daughter'' ===== | |||
* ''[[Zero Space (audio story)|Zero Space]]'' | |||
===== Big Finish Special Releases ===== | |||
* ''[[The Legacy of Time (audio anthology)|The Legacy of Time]]'' | |||
** ''[[Collision Course (audio story)|Collision Course]]'' | |||
===== ''Donna Noble: Kidnapped!'' ===== | |||
* ''[[The Chiswick Cuckoos (audio story)|The Chiswick Cuckoos]]'' | |||
===== ''The Diary of River Song'' ===== | |||
* ''[[A Brave New World (audio story)|A Brave New World]]'' | |||
===== ''Time Lord Victorious'' ===== | |||
* ''[[Echoes of Extinction (audio story)|Echoes of Extinction]]'' | |||
===== ''Once and Future'' ===== | |||
* ''[[The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50 (audio story)|The Martian Invasion of Planetoid 50]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Union (audio story)|The Union]]'' | |||
===== BBC New Series Adventures ===== | |||
* ''[[The Stone Rose (novel)|The Stone Rose]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Feast of the Drowned (novel)|The Feast of the Drowned]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Resurrection Casket (novel)|The Resurrection Casket]]'' | |||
* ''[[Pest Control (audio story)|Pest Control]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Day of the Troll (audio story)|The Day of the Troll]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Last Voyage (audio story)|The Last Voyage]]'' | |||
* ''[[Dead Air (audio story)|Dead Air]]'' | |||
==== Webcasts ==== | |||
* ''[[The Secret of Novice Hame (webcast)|The Secret of Novice Hame]]'' | |||
=== As the Fourteenth Doctor === | |||
==== ''Doctor Who'' ==== | |||
* ''[[The Power of the Doctor (TV story)|The Power of the Doctor]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Star Beast (TV story)|The Star Beast]]'' | |||
* ''[[Wild Blue Yonder (TV story)|Wild Blue Yonder]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Giggle (TV story)|The Giggle]]'' | |||
===== ''Children in Need'' mini episode ===== | |||
* ''[[Destination: Skaro (TV story)|Destination: Skaro]]'' | |||
=== Other roles === | |||
==== ''Doctor Who'' ==== | |||
* ''[[New Earth (TV story)|New Earth]]'' - [[Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17|Lady Cassandra]] | |||
* ''[[Journey's End (TV story)|Journey's End]]'' - [[Meta-Crisis Doctor]] | |||
* ''[[Wild Blue Yonder (TV story)|Wild Blue Yonder]] - [[Not-thing]] | |||
==== ''Doctor Who: Main Range'' ==== | |||
* ''[[Colditz (audio story)|Colditz]]'' - [[Kurtz]] | |||
* ''[[Medicinal Purposes (audio story)|Medicinal Purposes]]'' - [[Daft Jamie]] | |||
==== ''Doctor Who Unbound'' ==== | |||
* ''[[Sympathy for the Devil (audio story)|Sympathy for the Devil]]'' - Colonel [[Ross Brimmicombe-Wood (Unbound Universe)|Ross Brimmicombe-Wood]] | |||
* ''[[Exile (audio story)|Exile]]'' - [[Time Lord 2 (Exile)|Time Lord 2]] | |||
==== ''Cyberman'' ==== | |||
* ''[[Scorpius (audio story)|Scorpius]]'' - Pilot (Uncredited) | |||
==== ''UNIT'' ==== | |||
* ''[[The Wasting (audio story)|The Wasting]]'' - Colonel [[Ross Brimmicombe-Wood]] | |||
==== ''Dalek Empire'' ==== | |||
As [[Galanar]] | |||
* ''[[The Exterminators (audio story)|The Exterminators]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Healers (audio story)|The Healers]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Survivors (audio story)|The Survivors]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Demons (audio story)|The Demons]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Warriors (audio story)|The Warriors]]'' | |||
* ''[[The Future (audio story)|The Future]]'' | |||
==== BBC webcasts ==== | |||
* ''[[Scream of the Shalka (webcast)|Scream of the Shalka]]'' - [[Caretaker (Scream of the Shalka)|Caretaker]] | |||
==== ''Dalek Universe'' ==== | |||
* ''[[The Lost (audio story)|The Lost]]'' - [[The Lost (The Lost)|The Lost]] as the Doctor | |||
=== Television pastiches === | |||
* ''[[The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot (TV story)|The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot]]'' - Himself | |||
== Awards == | |||
* Theatre Management Association Best Actor Award: ''The Glass Menagerie'' | * Theatre Management Association Best Actor Award: ''The Glass Menagerie'' | ||
* 2000 | * 2000 — Nominated for Ian Charleson Award (Best classical actor under 30): ''Comedy of Errors'' | ||
* 2003 | * 2003 — Nominated for [[Olivier Award]] as Best Actor: ''Lobby Hero'' | ||
* 2005 | * 2005 — Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland, Best Male Performance: Jimmy Porter in ''Look Back in Anger'' | ||
* 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009/2010 (awards ceremony shown in January 2010 instead of October 2009) — ITV National Television Awards, Best Drama Actor, The Doctor in ''Doctor Who'' | |||
* 2007 — Critics' Circle Theatre Award, Best Shakespearean Performance: Hamlet in ''[[Hamlet]]'' | |||
* 2013 — TV Choice Award, Best Actor: DI Alec Hardy in ''Broadchurch'' | |||
* 2014 - [[BAFTA]] won for Best Actor (Television) for his role in ''The Escape Artist''. | |||
== Footnotes == | |||
{{reflist|1}} | |||
== | == External links == | ||
{{imdb name|id=0855039}} | |||
* | {{iwx|wiki=starwars|wiki name=Wookieepedia|wiki description=the wiki that covers all licensed ''Star Wars'' works}} | ||
* | * [http://www.david-tennant.com David-Tennant.com] Fansite | ||
* [http://www.david-tennant-news.com David-Tennant-News.com] Fan News Blog | |||
* [http://davidtennanttheatre.webs.com/ Dedicated David Tennant Theatre Site] Fansite on David Tennant's Theatre work | |||
* [http://web.archive.org/20011013083020/members.aol.com/actorsite3/add00/dtindex.htm Page of David Tennant's theatre work] | |||
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[[Category:People interviewed on Doctor Who: Unleashed]] |
Latest revision as of 19:22, 3 November 2024
- You may be looking for the Non-DWU character or the audio documentary.
David Tennant (born 18 April 1971[1] [2] as David John McDonald) played the Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who from 2005-2010, later returning to the role in the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor, and in Big Finish Productions' audio adventures. He later portrayed the Fourteenth Doctor on the show in the 60th anniversary specials. Prior to playing the Doctor, Tennant also portrayed several characters in various Big Finish audio adventures.
Biography[[edit] | [edit source]]
Before Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]
David grew up in Ralston, Renfrewshire, where his father, Sandy McDonald, was the local minister, and later Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. At the age of three, David told his parents that he wanted to become an actor, largely because of his early enjoyment of Doctor Who. Although such an aspiration might have been common for a Scottish child of the 1970s, Tennant says he was "absurdly single-minded" in pursuing his goal. He adopted the professional name "Tennant" — inspired by Neil Tennant, the lead singer of the Pet Shop Boys — because the actors' union Equity already had a David McDonald on their books.
Moving to London in the early 1990s, Tennant lodged with comic actress and writer Arabella Weir, with whom he became close friends and later godfather to one of her children. He appeared as a guest in her spoof television series Posh Nosh. Tennant began his career in the British theatre, frequently performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company for which he specialised in comic roles such as Touchstone in As You Like It, Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors and Captain Jack Absolute in The Rivals, although he also played the tragic role of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet.
He has appeared in several high-profile dramas for the BBC, including Takin' Over the Asylum, (1994) a six-part BBC Scotland serial in which he played a manic depressive named Campbell, He Knew He Was Right (2004), Blackpool (2004), Casanova (2005) and The Quatermass Experiment (2005). In film, he has appeared in Stephen Fry's Bright Young Things, and as Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, alongside Roger Lloyd Pack who played John Lumic in Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel, and Michael Gambon. One of his earliest big screen roles was in Jude (1996), in which he shared a scene with his Doctor Who predecessor Christopher Eccleston, playing a drunken undergraduate who challenges Eccleston's Jude to prove his intellect.
Initial Doctor Who roles[[edit] | [edit source]]
He has lent his voice to several supporting characters in Big Finish audio plays based on the 1963 version of Doctor Who. His first story was Colditz (also guest starring Tracey Childs, who later appeared in The Fires of Pompeii), where he played the German officer Kurtz. He later played two versions of Ross Brimmicombe-Wood in Sympathy for the Devil and the UNIT story The Wasting, Daft Jamie in Medicinal Purposes, a Time Lord in Exile and Galanar in the third series of Dalek Empire.
He was also a minor participant to the first "official" Ninth Doctor story, the BBC animated webcast Scream of the Shalka. Not originally cast in the production, Tennant happened to be recording a radio play in a neighbouring studio and, when he discovered what was being recorded next door, managed to convince the director to give him a small role.[3]
He also played the title role in Big Finish's adaptation of Bryan Talbot's The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (2005).
Playing the Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]
Tennant's name was suggested by tabloid newspapers as a possible candidate to take on the role of the Ninth Doctor for the new series that began in March 2005, though he was never considered for or auditioned for the role itself, and the role went to Christopher Eccleston. He got a chance to have a peripheral connection to the series when he narrated a prelude episode of Doctor Who Confidential that aired prior to the broadcast of Rose.
With Eccleston's announcement on 30 March that he would not be returning for a second series, the BBC confirmed Tennant as his replacement in a press release on 16 April. An oblique reference to his casting, however, had already been made in the live broadcast of The Quatermass Experiment on 2 April, in which Tennant appeared as Dr Briscoe. As his castmates had become aware of the speculation surrounding Tennant's possible casting in Doctor Who during rehearsals, actor Jason Flemyng changed Quatermass's first line to Dr Briscoe from "Good to have you back, Gordon" to "Good to have you back, Doctor". He made his first, brief appearance in the episode The Parting of the Ways (2005) after the regeneration scene, and also appeared in a special 7-minute mini-episode shown as part of the 2005 Children in Need appeal, broadcast on 18 November 2005 (coincidentally the same day Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, in which he played Barty Crouch Jr., was released to theatres). While Eccleston holds the distinction of being the first man to play the Doctor not even born when the series premiered, Tennant is the first Doctor who was not even conceived, as Eccleston was born during the first season.
Tennant began filming the new series of Doctor Who in late July 2005. His first full-length outing as the Doctor was a 60-minute special, The Christmas Invasion, which was broadcast on Christmas Day 2005, and followed by Attack of the Graske, a special interactive story available to BBC Red Button subscribers. He was also seen in early December in the ITV drama Secret Smile. In December 2005, The Stage newspaper listed Tennant at #6 in its "Top Ten" listing of the most influential UK television artists of the year, citing his roles in Blackpool, Casanova, Secret Smile and Doctor Who.
Unlike his predecessor, Christopher Eccleston, who confessed to having only a passing interest in the 1963 version of Doctor Who, Tennant is a long-time fan of the series and has exhibited extensive knowledge of its history and trivia in interviews, podcasts and DVD commentaries. In March 2009 he gave a demonstration of his knowledge of the franchise during a mock edition of Mastermind for the BBC's Comic Relief Red Nose Day telethon. He has often expressed enthusiasm about fulfilling his childhood dream. He remarked to an interviewer for GWR FM, "Who wouldn't want to be the Doctor? I've even got my own TARDIS!" Like Peter Davison before him, Tennant was knowledgeable enough about the program to ask for his character to be credited as "The Doctor" instead of "Doctor Who", as had been done during Eccleston's tenure. Along with Colin Baker, he also has the distinction of being the only Doctor actor to provide DVD commentary for another Doctor's story when he recorded a special "Easter egg" commentary for the DVD Special Edition release of The Five Doctors.
Outside the TV series itself, Tennant is a ubiquitous presence on various ancillary productions related to Doctor Who, and it is not inaccurate to suggest he might be one of the most accessible actors to ever play the Doctor. He has regularly appeared in Doctor Who Confidential — a program for which he also notably picked up his first television directing credit, the episode "Do You Remember the First Time?" - and in fact, has conducted a number of the interviews for the program himself. He was the narrator for Doctor Who: A New Dimension, the effective pilot for Confidential, and an occasional guest on Totally Doctor Who. He also recorded extensive behind the scenes video diaries of his work on Doctor Who, which became highlights of the Series 2 and 3 DVD box sets. On some of the Series 3-related video diaries, he recruited his then-girlfriend Sophia Myles to handle the camera. He only recorded two for the Series 4 set but recorded more for the 2009 Specials DVD Box Set, released in early 2010, relating to his final episodes. He has provided various video content for both the BBC's Doctor Who website, mainly in the form of short question-and-answer sessions. He has also taken part in licensed spin-off productions, recording audio-book readings of several BBC Books novels, as well as narrating several original audiobooks for BBC Audiobooks.
Technically speaking, Tennant has actually played four roles in the televised Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17 when she briefly takes over the Doctor's body, (TV: New Earth) John Smith who may be technically the Doctor but is depicted in the episodes Human Nature and The Family of Blood as a completely different personality, and a clone of the Doctor, referred to as the Meta-Crisis Doctor.
He has also parodied the Doctor on several occasions, such as in a Comic Relief skit with future companion Catherine Tate, a Dead Ringers skit in which he portrayed a "regenerated" Tony Blair, and as the Doctor himself in the final episode of Extras. His guest appearances on general entertainment programmes like The Friday Night Project and Jonathan Ross have also usually contained elements of Doctor Who parody.
In January 2006, Tennant took a one-day break from shooting Doctor Who to play Richard Hoggart in a dramatisation of the 1960 Lady Chatterley's Lover obscenity trial. Written by Andrew Davies and directed by Doctor Who's James Hawes for digital television channel BBC Four, Hoggart's son Simon Hoggart praised Tennant's portrayal in the drama in The Guardian newspaper. "[E]xtremely convincing — the suit, the hair, the Yorkshire accent, and trickiest of all, the speech rhythms. The only thing wrong is his sideburns. To do this film he had to take 24 hours off from making Doctor Who in Cardiff and, as he explained, the sideburns wouldn't grow back in a day."[4]
Also in January 2006, readers of the British gay and lesbian newspaper The Pink Paper voted Tennant the "Sexiest Man in the Universe" over David Beckham and Brad Pitt. Tennant has also on several occasions unseated perennial favourite Tom Baker in the "Favourite Doctor" category in recent polls conducted by Doctor Who Magazine.
In 2007 it was announced that, rather than air a full season in 2009, a series of specials would instead be broadcast, with the series returning as a weekly offering in 2010. This led to Tennant signing on to star in a production of Hamlet, opposite Patrick Stewart. In 2008 rumours began circulating as to whether Tennant would continue in Doctor Who. This was finally confirmed on 29 October 2008 when Tennant, upon winning the 2008 National Television Award for favourite actor, announced that he would be leaving Doctor Who after the 2009 specials. It was subsequently announced that 26-year old Matt Smith would take on the role from 2010.
Tennant spent the last part of 2008 preparing to play Hamlet, although his run was interrupted due to a serious spinal injury that necessitated major surgery. By January 2009 he had recovered and commenced filming the first of his final four special episodes. It was subsequently announced that Tennant would recreate his stage performance as Hamlet for a planned television broadcast/theatrical release.
Tennant filmed his final scenes for Doctor Who as the Doctor on Wednesday 20 May 2009, and gave an emotional farewell to cast and crew that was captured for both Doctor Who Confidential and Tennant's own Video Diaries DVD supplement. Despite the emotion of the moment, Tennant noted in his Video Diaries that his final scene - a green screen shot - made it less emotional for him than his regeneration scene, which had actually been filmed a week earlier. Also, the day after bidding farewell to Doctor Who, Tennant briefly reprised the role to film a series of short holiday-themed promos for BBC One. It was later announced he would play the role one last time in The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, a two-part episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures. Tennant also signed up to voice the Doctor for a second animated serial, Dreamland, which aired in late 2009 and continued to record original audio adventures for BBC Audio, the last of which was released in March 2010. He also appeared, as himself, in a Doctor Who skit involving John Barrowman broadcast during the series Tonight's the Night.
In the summer of 2009, Tennant became the first lead actor from Doctor Who to appear at the San Diego Comic Con.
Despite his final appearance in Doctor Who concluding in the New Year's Day 2010 episode, Tennant appeared in the subsequent episode, Matt Smith's first full episode as the Eleventh Doctor, The Eleventh Hour, which featured a sequence of "flashback" clips showing all previous Doctors.
During his time as the Doctor, Tennant also guest-hosted and guest-starred on many other BBC programs. He was featured on Top Gear, where he was discovered to be .7 seconds slower on the racetrack than Billie Piper - though he claimed that she cut corners, and also that he had problems with the 3rd gear of manual transmission. He was a guest on Ready, Steady, Cook, in which he competed with his father, Sandy. He was a contestant on a Christmas episode of QI, where his theme song was "Last Christmas" by Wham! and he co-hosted Comic Relief 2009 alongside Davina McCall. He was a guest host on Friday Night Project on two occasions, one opposite Freema Agyeman, and hosted a special Christmas edition of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, which featured fellow Doctor Who actors Catherine Tate and Bernard Cribbins, during which he revealed that he is a fan of Coldplay.
In 2013, Tennant reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor in the 50th anniversary Special The Day of the Doctor, and also appeared in various promotional videos.
After Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]
Tennant's first post-Who assignment was to film a movie version of his Hamlet production, opposite Patrick Stewart. This aired on BBC Two on 26 December 2009, the day after the first part of The End of Time, Tennant's last appearance, aired, and on American network PBS on 28 April 2010 and in addition to the fall of 2009, Tennant began hosting the PBS drama anthology series Masterpiece Contemporary in the US.
Although fan and media rumours linked Tennant to other high-profile projects, such as the Peter Jackson-produced adaptation of The Hobbit, most of these rumours were denied by Tennant or not confirmed. At the July 2009 San Diego ComicCon, Tennant indicated he had major projects under consideration but did not elaborate. Also in July, it was announced that Tennant would be appearing in St. Trinian's: The Secret of Fritton's Gold, the second film in the rebooted Trinian's franchise. The film also features two of Tennant's Doctor Who guest stars: Fenella Woolgar and Talulah Riley. He was also cast to co-star with Simon Pegg in the upcoming John Landis film, Burke and Hare, but had to drop out shortly before filming began, reportedly due to NBC refusing to release him from his contract for Rex Is Not Your Lawyer.
In November 2009 it was announced that Tennant would star in the television pilot for NBC, Rex is Not Your Lawyer, a comedic law drama. This makes Tennant the first Doctor actor to be given a lead role in an American TV series after leaving Doctor Who. In reporting his casting, the Hollywood Reporter compared the situation to Hugh Laurie moving from UK comedy series like Blackadder to American superstardom on House.[5] The pilot, which paired Tennant with fellow science fiction TV alumnus Jerry O'Connell (Sliders), was filmed between early November and mid-December 2009. In late January, it was reported that Rex had not been picked up as a spring replacement, something that was never suggested as a realistic option but was still under consideration for a fall 2010 pickup, something which led the tabloid press to wrongly report the project had been shelved.[6] It was reported on January 24, 2010, that the sets had been dismantled and stored, and that the show had not been picked up for spring 2010. It was also passed over for the fall 2010 schedule. In September 2010, in an interview at the Emmy Awards, Tennant confirmed the project was "dead."
In 2010, Tennant filmed the TV drama series Single Father and three films, The Decoy Bride, Fright Night, and United. In Single Father, which was shot in Scotland between March and May and screened on BBC1 in October, he played a father of five children struggling to cope after the death of his partner. The Decoy Bride was filmed in June and July in Scotland and on the Isle of Man and stars Tennant as the fiancé of a Hollywood movie star who falls for the local girl hired to be a 'decoy' to distract the paparazzo. [7] Tennant was in New Mexico between August and October filming Fright Night, a remake of the cult 80s horror film, in which he plays vampire hunter Peter Vincent, a part originated by Roddy McDowall. In October, he flew to Uganda to shoot a charity film for Comic Relief. In November and December Tennant filmed United in Newcastle, a drama about the 1958 Munich plane crash in which he stars as Manchester United coach Jimmy Murphy. All three films were released in 2011, though The Decoy Bride did not gain a wide release until 2012 when it went straight to cable TV. Also in 2010, he voiced the role of Spitelout, a minor character in How to Train Your Dragon. Tennant is the narrator for the audiobook series of How To Train Your Dragon.
In January 2011 Tennant announced that he and his Doctor Who co-star Catherine Tate would be starring in a theatre production of Much Ado About Nothing, which ran at the Wyndham's Theatre in London between May and September 2011 (Tennant's close friend and Doctor Who alumnus Adam James also co-starred). During the months he was performing in the play, he also recorded a guest appearance in Sky sitcom This Is Jinsy (a role he took because his good friend Jennie Fava, who 2nd ADed on both Doctor Who and This Is Jinsy, recommended it to him), voiceover roles in two animated films and one animated TV series, an 8-hour BBC Radio 4 drama series, and multiple radio and TV narration projects. Two days after his final performance of Much Ado, filming started in Margate on his next project, a BBC TV series called True Love, which also co-stars David Morrissey and Billie Piper. On 4 October, three days after Tennant finished filming True Love, he started production in Coventry on the comedy film sequel Nativity 2, which also co-stars Ian McNeice as Tennant's father. He filmed on Nativity 2 in Coventry, Warwickshire and north Wales until 29 November. The next day, he started filming a BBC documentary, Prefaces to Shakespeare, in London and Stratford-upon-Avon. In 2011, Tennant "appeared" in a cameo as himself in the Buffyverse Angel & Faith comic "In Perfect Harmony".
In January 2011, UK newspapers reported that he was engaged and planning a 2012 wedding to Georgia Moffett, who starred opposite him in the 2008 episode The Doctor's Daughter,[8] and that she was pregnant with the couple's first child. On 31 March, UK newspapers reported that Moffett had given birth to a daughter, Olive, earlier that week. Neither Tennant nor Moffett themselves have ever spoken about or confirmed their relationship publicly and they avoid being photographed together. On 2 September 2011, he changed his name legally by deed poll from his birth name of McDonald to his stage name Tennant, and his soon-to-be wife changed her and her son from a previous relationship's surnames to Tennant also. The couple are reported to have married in a secret ceremony on 30 December 2011, and no details or photos from the event have ever been released. Tennant confirmed on the 21 March 2012 that he had adopted Moffett's 10-year old son Ty, making this the first time he has spoken about his private life since starting to date Moffett. In January 2013 it was confirmed on the Jonathan Ross Show that Moffett was pregnant again. She gave birth to a boy named Wilfred on 2nd May.
In 2012, Tennant played a role in the one-off Sky Arts drama The Minor Character and continued to excel as a voice actor, playing roles in numerous audiobooks, radio plays, and other voice jobs. He also became the face of Virgin Media. He spent April-June in Poland filming the BBC4 WWII-set spy drama miniseries Spies of Warsaw (which also co-stars Burn Gorman). In June and July, he filmed the BBC2 political drama miniseries The Politician's Husband in London, playing a Cabinet minister who takes extreme lengths when his wife's career threatens to overshadow him. In August 2012 he visited Los Angeles to appear at the TCA event, promoting The Spies of Warsaw. On 4 August he started work on his first TV series regular role since leaving Doctor Who, in the new ITV1 detective series Broadchurch, created by Chris Chibnall, which filmed in Bristol and Dorset until December. In August it was also announced that Tennant would be hosting a panel game show for C4, titled Comedy World Cup, his first time hosting a TV series other than as a guest host. He shot both series concurrently, filming Broadchurch in Bristol during the week and travelling to London on weekends to record Comedy World Cup.
On 9 September 2012, he made his first proper Doctor Who fan convention appearance, at the Lords of Time convention in Birmingham. On 16 December 2012, he appeared at the Midnight Convention also in Birmingham, alongside Billie Piper.
In January 2013 Tennant recorded several audio books and radio plays, some TV commercials, and did publicity for Broadchurch and Spies of Warsaw. It was also announced Tennant would be returning to the Royal Shakespeare Company to play the titular role in Richard II. Between January-April Tennant shot the BBC1 thriller series The Escape Artist, playing a top lawyer who gets a murderer off on a technicality, but comes to regret it. Between April-May he filmed the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor in Cardiff, reprising his role as the Tenth Doctor. Between June-August, he shot the BBC comedy feature film What We Did On Our Holiday in Scotland.
Between August 2013-January 2014 he played Richard II for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The day after the final Richard II performance, Tennant flew to Canada, where he spent five months filming the Fox series Gracepoint, the US remake of Broadchurch. He started work on series 2 of Broadchurch (which filmed on location in Dorset, Devon and North Somerset late May - October) two days after returning to the UK. In July he simultaneously worked on Broadchurch and a short film titled 96 Ways to Say I Love You, shooting the short on weekends and his days off from Broadchurch. In October he spent time in LA and NY, doing a promotional press tour for Gracepoint and auditioning for roles.
In November 2013 he stated in a live chat that he had officially changed his name from David McDonald to David Tennant in order to comply with Screen Actors' Guild rules which stated he was only allowed to use his legal name when working in the US. [9]
In the 2014 film Postman Pat: The Movie, David voiced Wilf, a character who attempted to defeat Pat so he could win a singing competition. Wilf was also the name of David's second child and Wilfred Mott.
In January 2015 he won a Special Recognition Award at the NTAs. Between February and August, he was in New York shooting the lead role of villain Kilgrave/The Purple Man on the Marvel/Netflix TV series Jessica Jones. During this time, he appeared at two American fan conventions, at Wizard World Raleigh in North Carolina in March, and with Billie Piper at Philadelphia Comic Con in May. In April he attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington DC, his wife Georgia Moffett travelling from England to accompany him to the prestigious event. In August, the day after his return from New York, he travelled to Cardiff for several days where he visited the Doctor Who set with Russell T Davies. He spent much of November in New York, doing a promotional tour for Jessica Jones.
In November 2015, he announced on The Jonathan Ross Show that his wife had recently given birth to another daughter, her fourth child.
In December 2015 he attended Comic Con Brazil in São Paulo.
In January 2016 Tennant reprised his role in Richard II for the RSC's 'King and Country' season (all four history plays performed together) at the Barbican. In February 2016 he shot 'Mad to be Normal', a feature film biopic about RD Laing, in York.
In March and April, Richard II transferred to New York. During this time he attended Wizard World convention in St Louis, alongside Billie Piper. He also presented a BBC special marking the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare. In May he began shooting Broadchurch series 3 in Dorset.
Between March and June 2017, Tennant appeared in Patrick Marber's Don Juan in Soho at the Wyndham's Theatre. Also in 2017, he took over as the voice of Scrooge McDuck for Disney XD's DuckTales reboot, replacing the character's longtime voice actor Alan Young, who died in May 2016. In addition to this, Tennant voiced the character of Buck Douglas in the 2017 Fireman Sam special, Fireman Sam: Alien Alert.
In 2018, Tennant was announced as playing the principal role in Good Omens, a TV series based on the original novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, opposite Michael Sheen.
In 2019, he began hosting his own podcast series, David Tennant Does a Podcast With.... His first guest was Jodie Whittaker, who plays the Thirteenth Doctor. Other guests include Olivia Colman, Ian McKellen and Good Omens co-star Michael Sheen.
Playing a new Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]
Tennant returned to the series as the Fourteenth Doctor starting with the twist ending of the 2022 BBC Centenary Special The Power of the Doctor, confirming online speculation that Tennant would be portraying a new incarnation rather than the Tenth Doctor following leaked images showing him being involved in the 60th anniversary specials, and becoming the first actor to have played two distinct numbered incarnations of the Doctor. He made his first full appearance as the Fourteenth Doctor in the 2023 Children in Need mini-episode Destination: Skaro and would appear in his first full adventure as the new incarnation in the 2023 specials.
Credits[[edit] | [edit source]]
As the Tenth Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]
Television[[edit] | [edit source]]
Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Parting of the Ways
- The Christmas Invasion
- New Earth
- Tooth and Claw
- School Reunion
- The Girl in the Fireplace
- Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel
- The Idiot's Lantern
- The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit
- Love & Monsters
- Fear Her
- Army of Ghosts / Doomsday
- The Runaway Bride
- Smith and Jones
- The Shakespeare Code
- Gridlock
- Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks
- The Lazarus Experiment
- 42
- Human Nature / The Family of Blood
- Blink
- Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords
- Voyage of the Damned
- Partners in Crime
- The Fires of Pompeii
- Planet of the Ood
- The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky
- The Doctor's Daughter
- The Unicorn and the Wasp
- Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead
- Midnight
- Turn Left
- The Stolen Earth / Journey's End
- The Next Doctor
- Planet of the Dead
- The Waters of Mars
- The End of Time
- The Day of the Doctor
Mini-episodes[[edit] | [edit source]]
Animated serials[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Sarah Jane Adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]
Video games[[edit] | [edit source]]
Audio[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Tenth Doctor Adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Technophobia
- Time Reaver
- Death and the Queen
- Infamy of the Zaross
- The Sword of the Chevalier
- Cold Vengeance
- No Place
- One Mile Down
- The Creeping Death
Out of Time[[edit] | [edit source]]
The Tenth Doctor and River Song[[edit] | [edit source]]
Dalek Universe[[edit] | [edit source]]
Jenny: The Doctor's Daughter[[edit] | [edit source]]
Big Finish Special Releases[[edit] | [edit source]]
Donna Noble: Kidnapped![[edit] | [edit source]]
The Diary of River Song[[edit] | [edit source]]
Time Lord Victorious[[edit] | [edit source]]
Once and Future[[edit] | [edit source]]
BBC New Series Adventures[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Stone Rose
- The Feast of the Drowned
- The Resurrection Casket
- Pest Control
- The Day of the Troll
- The Last Voyage
- Dead Air
Webcasts[[edit] | [edit source]]
As the Fourteenth Doctor[[edit] | [edit source]]
Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]
Children in Need mini episode[[edit] | [edit source]]
Other roles[[edit] | [edit source]]
Doctor Who[[edit] | [edit source]]
Doctor Who: Main Range[[edit] | [edit source]]
Doctor Who Unbound[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Sympathy for the Devil - Colonel Ross Brimmicombe-Wood
- Exile - Time Lord 2
Cyberman[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Scorpius - Pilot (Uncredited)
UNIT[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Wasting - Colonel Ross Brimmicombe-Wood
Dalek Empire[[edit] | [edit source]]
As Galanar
BBC webcasts[[edit] | [edit source]]
Dalek Universe[[edit] | [edit source]]
Television pastiches[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot - Himself
Awards[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Theatre Management Association Best Actor Award: The Glass Menagerie
- 2000 — Nominated for Ian Charleson Award (Best classical actor under 30): Comedy of Errors
- 2003 — Nominated for Olivier Award as Best Actor: Lobby Hero
- 2005 — Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland, Best Male Performance: Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger
- 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009/2010 (awards ceremony shown in January 2010 instead of October 2009) — ITV National Television Awards, Best Drama Actor, The Doctor in Doctor Who
- 2007 — Critics' Circle Theatre Award, Best Shakespearean Performance: Hamlet in Hamlet
- 2013 — TV Choice Award, Best Actor: DI Alec Hardy in Broadchurch
- 2014 - BAFTA won for Best Actor (Television) for his role in The Escape Artist.
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ Who's Who in Scotland, ISBN 978-0-9565748-8-6
- ↑ REF: Who-ology: The Official Miscellany
- ↑ DWM 336
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ Hollywood Reporter story
- ↑ Entertainment Weekly report
- ↑ NBC cancels 'Law & Order' mothership, 'Chuck' to return, 'Heroes' dead
- ↑ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/01/05/who_marriage/
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/nov/05/ask-david-tennant-anything-livechat#comment-28627775/
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
- David Tennant at the Internet Movie Database
- David Tennant at Wookieepedia, the wiki that covers all licensed Star Wars works
- David-Tennant.com Fansite
- David-Tennant-News.com Fan News Blog
- Dedicated David Tennant Theatre Site Fansite on David Tennant's Theatre work
- Page of David Tennant's theatre work