David Tennant

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David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who.

David Tennant (born David John McDonald, 18th April 1971 in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland) is the tenth actor to portray the Doctor, assuming the role from Christopher Eccleston at the conclusion of "The Parting of the Ways." He confirmed on the ITV National Television Awards that he will be leaving at the end of the 2009 season of specials, being replaced by Matt Smith.

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. 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 there was another David McDonald already on the books of the actors' union Equity.

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 later 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 whom 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 (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. 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 lent his voice to several supporting characters in Big Finish audio plays based on the 1963 version of Doctor Who. 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. He also played the title role in Big Finish's adaptation of Bryan Talbot's The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (2005).

Tennant's name was put forward as a possible candidate to take on the role of the Ninth Doctor for the new series that began in March 2005, although the role eventually went to Christopher Eccleston. 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. 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. He was the third choice for the role. The second choice was David Walliams who turned down the role because he was stuck in the tight scheduele of the third season of Little Britain. The first choice was an unknown and unnamed by the BBC actor who spoke in a cockney accent, he didn't get the role because he moved with his wife and daughter down to Australia.

He 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 longtime 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 during 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.

Outside the TV series itself, Tennant is a ubiquitous presence on various ancillary productions related to Doctor Who. He has regularly appeared in Doctor Who Confidential — a program for which he also notably picked up his first television directing credit - and in fact has conducted a number of the interviews for the program himnself. He was the narrator for Doctor Who: A New Beginning, 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; he only recorded two for the Series 4 set, while a diary recorded at the read through for Planet of the Dead was released on the Internet in January 2009. He has provided various video content for the 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 an original story, Pest Control, in 2008.

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."[1]

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 perrennial 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 in 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 will 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 long-standing back injury. 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 DVD release.

List of credits

Television

  • Takin' Over the Asylum (1994) (Campbell Bain)
  • Duck Patrol (1998) (Darwin)
  • Posh Nosh (2003)
  • Trust (2003) (Gavin MacEwan) episode 6
  • The Deputy (2004)
  • He Knew He Was Right (2004) (Rev Gibson)
  • Blackpool (2004) (DI Carlisle)
  • Casanova (2005) (Giacomo Casanova)
  • The Quatermass Experiment (2005) (Dr Briscoe)
  • Doctor Who (2005 - 2009) (The Doctor), (John Smith), (Clone Doctor)
  • Secret Smile (2005) (Brendan Block)
  • The Romantics (2006) (Jean-Jacques Rousseau)
  • Recovery (2007) (Alan Hamilton)

Doctor Who: A New Dimension-Narrator

Film

  • Jude (1996)
  • Bite (1997)
  • L.A. Without a Map (1998)
  • The Last September (1999)
  • One Eyed Jacques (2001)
  • Sweetnightgoodheart (2001)
  • Nine 1/2 Minutes (2003)
  • Bright Young Things (2003)
  • Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (2005) (Barty Crouch Jr.)
  • 2027 (2005) (Valeri K.)
  • Free Jimmy (2006)
  • Hamlet (announced - release date TBA)

Radio

  • Much Ado about Nothing Benedick BBC Radio 4 (2001)
  • Dixon of Dock Green PC Andy Crawford BBC Radio 4 (2005)

Theatre

  • The Princess and the Goblin Curdie
  • Antigone
  • Jump the Life to Come
  • The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
  • Scotland Matters
  • What the Butler Saw Nick (1995) Royal National Theatre
  • Vassa — Scenes from Family Life Pavel (1996) Albery Theatre
  • As You Like It Touchstone (1996)Royal Shakespeare Company
  • The General From America Hamilton (1996) Royal Shakespeare Company
  • The Herbal Bed Jack Lane (1996) Royal Shakespeare Company
  • Hurly Burly Mickey (1997)
  • Black Comedy Brinsley Miller
  • Edward III (staged reading) Edward, the Black Prince (1999)
  • An Experienced Woman Gives Advice Kenny (1999)
  • Comedy of Errors Antipholus of Syracuse (2000) Royal Shakespeare Company
  • The Rivals Jack (2000) Royal Shakespeare Company
  • Romeo and Juliet Romeo (2000) Royal Shakespeare Company
  • Comedians (2001)
  • The Real Inspector Hound Moon
  • The Lobby Hero Jeff (2002) Donmar Warehouse
  • Push-Up Robert (2002) Royal Court Jerwood Theatre
  • The Glass Menagerie Tom
  • Long Day's Journey Into Night Edmund
  • Tartuffe Valere
  • Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Nick
  • Hay Fever Simon, Edinburgh Royal Lyceum
  • Merlin Arthur, Edinburgh Royal Lyceum
  • King Lear Edgar
  • The Pillowman Katurian (2003) Royal National Theatre
  • Twelve Angry Men
  • Slab Boys Trilogy Alan, Young Vic
  • Look Back in Anger Jimmy Porter (2005), Edinburgh Royal Lyceum
  • Hamlet Hamlet (2008), Royal Shakespeare Company
  • Love's Labours Lost Berowne (2008), Royal Shakespeare Company

Awards

  • 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
  • 2008 — ITV National Television Awards, Best Drama Actor, The Doctor in Doctor Who

Footnotes

  1. ↑ [1]

External links

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