David Tennant explains why Doctor Who meant so much to him as a child: 'I could be the hero'

In the far-reaching interview, he inevitably got onto talking about his stint on the BBC's legendary sci-fi drama, where he gushed about how the character was one of the rare screen heroes he could truly imagine himself being as a child.

"The character is so brilliant. He's heroic, he's clever, he's funny, he's got all the best lines, he thinks quicker than anyone else – and he's not a joke," explained Tennant.

"And that was something that, as a kid, meant so much to me, because I had glasses that were selotaped up at the leg, I was not sporty, I was not the strong one. I was quite fast, I could run fast – and again, the Doctor tends to run fast."

Tennant continued: "So there were a lot of bits... I could glom onto that character and think, 'I could be the hero of this story! Even though there's nothing about me that feels remotely heroic.'

"But there's something to aspire to in being clever – brilliant! Not the strongest, not the one who can beat people up – because that was never me."

Tennant added: "He's a rather beautiful character who comes from a place of understanding and benevolence and pacifism and tolerance, and all those things which just seemed to make sense."

The full conversation between Cotton and Tennant can be found below.

The actor is currently starring in Disney Plus series Rivals, an adaptation of the Jilly Cooper novel, which takes viewers inside the British television industry during the tumultuous 1980s.

The star-studded Rivals cast also features Aidan Turner (Poldark), Danny Dyer (EastEnders), Katherine Parkinson (Here We Go), Emily Atack (The Inbetweeners), Nafessa Williams (Black Lightning) and Alex Hassell (The Boys).

Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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