Doctor Who: David Tennant Teases He's "Not Necessarily" Playing the Same Doctor
Tennant revealed how his Fourteenth Doctor will differ from his Tenth Doctor.
A new era is on the horizon for Doctor Who, with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Doctor already cast for the show's upcoming episodes. Fans were surprised and delighted to learn that David Tennant will once again be portraying The Doctor in its upcoming episodes — but it sounds like his take will be a little different. In a recent interview with Doctor Who Magazine (via Radio Times) Tennant teased that his portrayal of the Fourteenth Doctor won't exactly have the same characterization as his previous Tenth Doctor.
"The Doctor's been three different people in the meantime, so I'm not necessarily the same version of the Doctor that I was before," Tennant revealed. "I'm not the Tenth Doctor now, I'm the Fourteenth. Well, strictly speaking we don't know what the actual number is anymore, do we?"
How Will David Tennant Return to Doctor Who?
Tennant is expected to reprise his role in a string of three Doctor Who specials, which are tied to the BBC's 60th anniversary. Catherine Tate will also be reprising her role as one of the Tenth Doctor's companions, Donna Noble.
"It was like being handed a very lovely present," Tennant said. "It was joyous, it was great fun. It was a very happy, joyous time 15 years ago, and returning to that could've been, well, who knows? It might've felt awkward, it might've felt difficult, I might not have been able to run as fast. But we had a lovely time. Russell T. Davies is back running the show, it felt like we had never been away."
Who Will Be the Next Doctor Who?
Sex Education and Barbie star Ncuti Gatwa is set to play the Fifteenth Doctor in the upcoming 60th anniversary season of Doctor Who, which will be showrun by returning series alum Russell T. Davies.
"Oh God, what a force of nature," Tennant exclaimed in a recent interview. "I've caught a little bit of him at work and it's pretty exciting. I mean, what advice would you give someone? You can see Ncuti has so much talent and energy. He's so inspired and charismatic. The thing about something like this is: it's the peripherals, it's not the job. It's the other stuff that comes with it, that I didn't see coming. It's a show that has so much focus and enthusiasm on it. It's not like Ncuti hasn't been in a massive Netflix series [Sex Education,] but Doctor Who is on a slightly different level. It's cross-generational, international, and has so much history, that it feels like it belongs to everyone. To be at the center of the show is wonderful and humbling, but also a bit overwhelming and terrifying. It doesn't come without some difficulties, such as the immediate loss of anonymity. It takes a bit of getting used to if that's not been your life up to that point. I was very lucky that when I joined, Billie Piper [who portrayed on-screen companion, Rose] was still there. She'd lived in a glare of publicity since she was 14, so she was a great guide for how to live life under that kind of scrutiny. I owe a degree of sanity to Billie."
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