David Tennant Reflects On Scrutiny He Faced During Doctor Who Debut 20 Years Ago

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It’s been twenty years since David Tennant first appeared on Doctor Who, and he’s now talking about the pressure he felt when he took on the role. He played the Tenth Doctor, taking over from Christopher Eccleston.

Although he was known as the Doctor for three seasons, his very first time playing the role was in the 2005 Christmas special, “The Christmas Invasion.”

Tennant recently opened up about his tenure as The Doctor on the Whoniverse Show.

He acknowledged that there was a lot of anticipation for his first episode as Doctor Who, especially since it was the Christmas special. He said it felt like a lot of people were watching closely, but it was also a really happy and exciting experience to be part of it all.

In 2005, people used printed TV guides in newspapers and magazines to find shows, which Tennant believes made watching TV a more social experience. Today, we stream shows on our phones, meaning we don’t even need to watch with others in the same room.

Imagine being at the heart of everyone’s Christmas celebration – it was a high-pressure, closely watched situation, but also incredibly heartwarming and joyful to be part of it all.

I really wanted to be part of the Christmas Day TV tradition. Back then, families would get the Radio Times and circle the shows they planned to watch together. It felt like everyone was watching Doctor Who as a family at that time.

It was definitely a special moment watching everything unfold in Scotland. Being with my family while it happened was both incredibly exciting and really difficult.

People often ask David Tennant how he got ready to play the Doctor, wondering about his voice and if he and the show’s creator, Russell T Davies, spent a lot of time discussing the character’s motivations. But Tennant has said that wasn’t the case at all.

As someone who’s basically grown up with Doctor Who, seeing David Tennant step back into the role felt incredibly organic – and apparently, it did for Russell T Davies too. They both just get the show. Tennant immediately understood the logic behind Davies’ writing; it wasn’t like he was trying to decipher a puzzle. Everything just clicked, and it never felt strange or confusing for him at all.

People often ask me about the process of developing my Doctor’s personality and way of speaking, wondering if Russell and I had extensive discussions about it. But honestly, it wasn’t like that at all. It just felt natural. We both grew up watching Doctor Who, so we shared a similar understanding of the character. When the writing is strong, like it was here, it felt clear what to do – I just needed to speak the lines. It never felt complicated or mysterious.

Tennant and Davies were already familiar with each other’s work, which helped when transitioning to Doctor Who. They’d previously collaborated on the TV series Casanova, and during filming, they often discussed the possibility of working on Doctor Who together.

Russell Davies shared on the Whoniverse Show that he gave David Tennant pictures from Doctor Who to help him understand the show’s context.

David Tennant and I often chatted about Doctor Who. We were particularly excited about a scene featuring three Doctors, and kept repeating ‘three Doctors!’ I also shared photos with him of everything that was going on with the production.

David Tennant quickly became a popular Doctor, and when he departed in 2010, Matt Smith stepped into the role. Because of the show’s unique ability to ‘regenerate’ the Doctor into a new form, different actors have played the part over time. Matt Smith eventually moved on, followed by Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker, and most recently, Ncuti Gatwa, each having their time as the iconic character.

David Tennant briefly returned as the Fourteenth Doctor in three special episodes in 2023, appearing between Jodie Whittaker’s time as the Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa taking on the role.

Tennant will always cherish his time with the show. Even though he faced some criticism when he first started in 2005, fans worldwide consider him one of the greatest Doctors of all time.

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2025-12-23 23:29