Prior to playing the Doctor, Tennant also portrayed several characters in various Big Finish audio adventures. 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 s, 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 s, 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. One of his earliest big screen roles was in Jude , 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 version of Doctor Who. 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. 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 , although 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 after the regeneration scene, and also appeared in a special 7-minute mini-episode shown as part of the Children in Need appeal, broadcast on 18 November coincidentally the same day Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , in which he played Barty Crouch Jr.
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 His first full-length outing as the Doctor was a minute special, The Christmas Invasion , which was broadcast on Christmas Day , and followed by Attack of the Graske , a special interactive story available to BBC Red Button subscribers.
Unlike his predecessor, Christopher Eccleston, who confessed to having only a passing interest in the 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.
He has often expressed enthusiasm about fulfilling his childhood dream. 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? 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 Specials DVD Box Set , released in early , 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. 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. 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.
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 it was announced that, rather than air a full season in , a series of specials would instead be broadcast, with the series returning as a weekly offering in This led to Tennant signing on to star in a production of Hamlet , opposite Patrick Stewart. Six and Twelve were both written to be especially abrasive, then soften as time went on with Colin Baker having to do this through Big Finish audio plays rather than on telly.
A significant difference between Twelve and Ten, though, is that Twelve questions himself more. Ten, to the very end, seems to believe his own hype. Ad — content continues below. Having quoted The Lion King and fearlessly ambled through the Sycorax ship in a dressing gown, he seems the picture of bonhomie, that lighter and amiable character shining through.
Then he kills their leader. True, it was in self-defence, but it was lethal force that may not have been necessary. Then he immediately topples the British Prime Minister for a not dissimilar act of aggression. This aloof detachment results in Queen Victoria establishing the Torchwood institute that will eventually split them apart. Rose and the Doctor skip along the dividing line between romance and hubris. Well-meaning as this statement is, the Doctor treats it as a reason to reduce his next companion to a function rather than a person.
Martha puts up with a position as a servant and with regular racist abuse on her travels with this man, before finally realising at the end of the series that she needs to get out of the relationship. Donna is now travelling with him, and simply calls him out on his behaviour more than Rose or Martha did. Recent Features.
Find out more about Sarah Jane's handy helper. Unveiled: New Logo and Insignia. Download the new Logo The first ten logos Which do you remember? Don't miss. Regenerations: Six of the Best Revisit Dreamland! Watch full episodes online now. BBC One. Next Episode: Doctor Who returns later this year!
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