David Tennant reveals he was advised to turn down Doctor Who role
Turns out the modern era of Doctor Who could have looked very different had Tennant taken the advice of his agent...
It's difficult – if not impossible – to imagine the modern era of Doctor Who without David Tennant.
The Scottish actor took over the keys to the TARDIS from Christopher Eccleston for the second season of the rebooted series back in 2006 and went on to become arguably the most beloved actor to ever play the Time Lord – recently returning for three special episodes to mark the show's 60th anniversary in 2023.
But it turns out things could have all gone very differently if Tennant had paid attention to advice he was given by his agent back when he was first approached for the role.
By entering your details you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Speaking during a special new episode of his podcast David Tennant Does a Podcast With.. that sees him interviewed by his wife Georgia Tennant, he revealed that he was told not to "touch it" when the initial offer came in.
Asked about the process of accepting the role, he explained that "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," he added when asked when that moment had been.
"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."
The rest, of course, is history, and Who fans around the world can be very relieved that Tennant didn't take his agent's advice on this occasion.
Read more:
- Doctor Who season 15 gets 100 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes ahead of return
- David Tennant's Thursday Murder Club role confirmed – and he's a dodgy guy
- Doctor Who unveils new episode 1 images – what has Mrs Flood seen?
Taking on the role naturally brought with it a far greater degree of attention, and while he has now been a major figure in the public eye for almost two decades, Tennant admitted that fame "takes a bit of getting used to".
"Suddenly you've got to establish what the rules are for yourself, and there's not really anyone to help you or teach you," he said.
"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."
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. David Tennant Does a Podcast With... is available on Spotify now..
Check out more of our Sci-Fi coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
