Posted in: BBC, TV | Tagged: david tennant, doctor who

Doctor Who: David Tennant Discusses His Relationship with The Show

During a recent interview, Doctor Who star David Tennant (Rivals) opened up about how he views his relationship with the long-running series.

Okay, let's assume that everything we know is true and the BBC and Showrunner Russell T. Davies's Doctor Who Christmas Special is happening. There are still a whole lot of questions about the show's future on-screen. Will Ncuti Gatwa's Fifteenth Doctor regenerating into Billie Piper be addressed? Were we just introduced to the Sixteenth Doctor, or are bigger plans in play – possibly a reboot? One name that's been pulled into the rumor mill is David Tennant, someone who is definitely no stranger to "The Whoniverse." Tennant's name surfaces every time there's talk of the show needing saving, and that speaks volumes for how a very fickle fanbase continues to look to him as the franchise's "fixed point in time." During his recent press run in support of the second season of Disney+'s Rivals, Tennant opened up about his relationship with the long-running series.

"I loved it from when I was a small child. I was pretty obsessed with it as a show and as a character. So when the very unlikely circumstances arose that I was asked to take over on the show, a show which had not existed for many years in between, it felt like a wonderful, impossible opportunity," Tennant shared during a profile interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I loved it. It was everything I hoped it might be. And it definitely changed my life in so many ways, professionally and personally, that I don't feel the need to distance myself from it. I'm also aware that I probably can't. If I never worked again, the first line of my obituary probably been written. 'Doctor Who' attracts that kind of attention and enthusiasm."

Speaking of that Gatwa-to-Piper regeneration, Tennant offered some interesting intel back in August 2025 while checking in with BBC Radio 2's Romesh Ranganathan to promote his Netflix film, The Thursday Murder Club. Addressing the moment, Tennant shared that he watched it live before, revealing that, "I might have had an inkling, yeah," that it would happen. From there, Tennant added that he did text Piper after the scene aired, but states that he doesn't know where things are going from here (though we strongly encourage you to check out Tennant's pauses and body language, because they're definitely interesting).

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