David Tennant considered turning down ‘Doctor Who’ and I’m so glad we don’t live in that timeline
There’s no NuWho without Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor. He pushed Doctor Who into a new, more modern era, giving audiences, both familiar and unfamiliar with the time-and-space-traveling alien, a chance to fall in love with this classic sci-fi series. Nine’s underrated reign only lasted one season, though. Next, famously, now universally beloved Scottish actor David Tennant stepped into the role, but in an alternate universe, he might have turned down the part.
Can you imagine? That’s not the kind of world I want to live in.
Tennant recently revealed on his podcast, David Tennant Does a Podcast With…, that his then-agent initially advised him to decline the offer. “I had an agent at the time who was like, ‘Don’t touch it. It’s not going to work.’ Not my current agent. A previous brilliant agent who’s since retired, but she didn’t call that correctly.” (via RadioTimes.com).
It wasn’t just Tennant’s agent who was wary of taking on such a massive part. Tennant revealed that he had his own doubts about it as well. “There was definitely a moment where I wasn’t going to do it. About 48 hours after they asked me, and I had to go process everything that it meant.” Though thankfully for us Whovians, Tennant did accept the part, the fame that came with it was on a whole other level. Understandably, that’s something he would have taken into consideration.
Accepting a starring role in a franchise like Doctor Who can change your life, and your family’s life, forever. “Suddenly you’ve got to establish what the rules are for yourself, and there’s not really anyone to help you or teach you. And that can be a little bit challenging. I’ve found things like my parents being doorstepped a lot early on, I found that really difficult because I felt like I had to protect them and they were not interested in being protected,” Tennant explained.
Of course, since his original stint on Doctor Who, Tennant has starred in many other widely acclaimed shows and movies—from sci-fi and fantasy to crime and period dramas, including Broadchurch, Good Omens, Rivals, Jessica Jones, Around the World in 80 Days, Des, and so many more.
Whatever it was that made Tennant accept the role in the end, I, and I suspect many other Doctor Who fans, are eternally grateful. Tennant was fabulous as the Tenth (and Fourteenth) Doctor, energetic and charming, empathetic and fun, and let’s be honest—we would all be worse off if David Tennant and Catherine Tate had never shared the TARDIS, either. All of Doctor Who’s companions have been fabulous, and Tennant’s Ten had a great rapport with Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) and Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), but Ten and Donna Noble were comedic gold. Their window conversation in “Partners In Crime” is one of my favorite Doctor Who scenes of all time.
If not Tennant, then who? Honestly, I have no idea, but I’m glad we never had to find out. I’m sure they would have been great in their own way, but David Tennant’s Doctor was beloved for a reason.
(featured image: BBC)
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