David Tennant’s departure from Doctor Who back in 2010 was incredibly emotional, but it was almost avoided as Steven Moffat had a plan to keep the Tenth Doctor around for longer. Scottish actor David Tennant joined Doctor Who as Christopher Eccleston’s replacement in 2005, and over four full seasons and a series of special episodes, Tennant’s Tenth Doctor became a fan-favorite iteration of the legendary Time Lord. The Tenth Doctor’s regeneration in “The End of Time – Part Two” was incredibly emotional, but then-incoming Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat almost avoided it completely.
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David Tennant performed as the Tenth Doctor during some of Doctor Who’s most celebrated episodes, including the likes of “Blink,” “Midnight,” “Silence in the Library,” “The Waters of Mars,” and more. He returned to the long-running sci-fi series in 2013’s “The Day of the Doctor,” and again as the Fourteenth Doctor for the show’s 60th anniversary specials in 2023, but he almost got another entire season in action as the Tenth Doctor in 2010. This would have changed Moffat’s time on Doctor Who significantly, but would have been perfect for David Tennant.
Steven Moffat Offered David Tennant Another Season of Doctor Who
Back in 2013, Steven Moffat opened up about what his plans were for David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor had he stuck around after “The End of Time” (via Doctor Who TV). Moffat replaced Russell T. Davies’ as Doctor Who’s showrunner after 2009’s specials after having written several iconic episodes during Tennant’s run, and Moffat introduced Matt Smith to the series as the Eleventh Doctor. His original plan saw him continue on with David Tennant in the titular role, however, which would have put a twist on the story we saw in Doctor Who’s series 5.
“Had David stayed for one final year, it would certainly have been his last,” Moffat revealed when asked what his plans would have been if Tennant had stuck around. “My pitch was that it would start with the TARDIS crashing in Amelia’s back garden, and a terribly battered and bruised Tenth Doctor [would stagger] out. Amelia finds him, feeds him fish custard… and generally helps him. But we, the audience, can see he’s in a truly bad way. Dying maybe. Eventually he heads back to his TARDIS, and flies off… When he returns – many years later for Amy – he seems perfectly fine, and indeed doesn’t remember any of those events. Of course, over time, we realise what we saw was the Tenth Doctor at the end of his life, about to regenerate. Events that we [would] return to in episode 13.”
The Tenth Doctor’s Regeneration Under Steven Moffat Would Have Put Amy Pond Front and Center
Doctor Who’s series 5 opened with Matt Smith’s Eleventh Doctor crashing the TARDIS into Amelia Pond’s (Caitlin Blackwood) garden in the 1990s. He returned years later – when Amy was played by Karen Gillan – and took her on as this iteration’s first companion. However, Moffat’s original plan would have significantly changed this, as Amy would have become the latest companion for the Tenth Doctor, with Gillan traveling alongside David Tennant. Crucially, this also means that Amy would have been present for the Doctor’s regeneration, which she ultimately wasn’t in person for her “Raggedy Man.”
David Tennant and Karen Gillan performed together in Doctor Who briefly in 2008’s “The Fires of Pompeii,” where Gillan played an ancient Pompeiian seer. There surely would have been some mention of this appearance had Gillan returned as the last companion for Tennant’s Tenth Doctor, following in the footsteps of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). All three of these companions witnessed or were aware of regenerations, but Amy never saw the Doctor undergo one, so experiencing this would have given Gillan new layers to embody as Amy Pond.
Will David Tennant Ever Return to Doctor Who Again?
David Tennant made such a massive impact on Doctor Who that viewers have loved seeing him return to the series time and again since “The End of Time.” Tennant returned for the series’ 50th anniversary special, “The Day of the Doctor,” alongside Matt Smith and John Hurt as the War Doctor in 2013, and then returned for three specials in 2023, reuniting with Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble. These specials ended with the Doctor’s bi-generation, allowing Tennant’s Fourteenth and Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor to exist simultaneously – with the former retiring to live a happy life with his new found family.
Since the Fourteenth Doctor is still alive and still has access to a TARDIS, it’s very possible that he could return yet again in Doctor Who’s future. This is perhaps even more likely after the Fifteenth Doctor regenerated into the form of Rose Tyler, with Billie Piper returning. Rose was one of Doctor Who’s most iconic companions, and she famously fell in love with the Tenth Doctor. Nothing has been confirmed about Doctor Who’s future, so the return of any of these characters is still uncertain, but it would be great to see Tennant come back to the series again.
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