These popular guides are not called “The Only Doctor Who Guide You’ll Ever Need from Now until the End of Time” for no reason. “The David Tennant Years” will be the fourth to be published. As well as detailed guide to each T.V. episode there is a section on audio, books, comics, short stories, spin-offs, video games and webcasts, as well as cast and production personnel, Tardis data logs, the monsters, myths and rumours, the other companions, the planets, the unmade episodes and the villains. All-in-all that amounts to a 290-page A4 size book.
Turning to the Doctor Who Contributors section, the entry for David Tennant himself spreads over two pages. Here is a condensed sample of what you will find out:
“David Tennant was born on 18th April, 1971 in Bathgate in Scotland. He was an avid watcher of Doctor Who through the Tom Baker and Peter Davison eras. He appeared in an anti-smoking advert aged 16. His actual name is David McDonald, changing his surname to Tennant because there was already a David McDonald registered with Equity. He toured as part of the 7:84 theatre group (7% of the people own 84% of the land) and worked at the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh and the Repertory Theatre, Dundee. His early T.V. career included Strathblair (1992). Rab C. Nesbitt (1993), The Tales of Para Handy (1995), and The Bill (1995), and his film roles have included Jude (1996).
His stage acting roles have included three plays with the Royal Shakespeare Company between 1996 and 2000; then, in Hamlet from August, 2008 into early 2009.His first involvement in Doctor Who came with a Big Finish audio drama, Colditz in 2001 which featured Sylvester McCoy (also the subject of one of Benedict’s series guides along with William Hartnell and Jon Pertwee). He collaborated with writer Russell T. Davies in Casanova (2005) and played Barty Crouch Junior in Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire in the same year.
On 16th April, 2005 David Tennant was revealed as the tenth Doctor. His debut came in The Christmas Invasion broadcasted on Christmas Day, 2005, and David would go on to play The Doctor for three full seasons, travelling with three companions: Rose Tyler, Martha Jones and Donna Noble. David Tennant’s portrayal and characterisation of the Doctor was often shrouded in tragedy and heartbreak. The Christmas Day special Voyage of the Damned attracted 13.31 million viewers. Blink is the highest critically rated Tennant episode, but it was ironically a ‘Doctor-lite episode’. Tennant’s time on the show introduced some memorable monsters including the Weeping Angels, the Judoon and the Ood.
After finishing his time on Doctor Who, Tennant transferred to the production of The Sarah jane Adventures. David Tennant also had a career as a voice actor, including Postman Pat: The Movie (2014), Thunderbirds Are Go (2017) and The Simpsons (2023). David Tennant’s first major TV role came with Broadchurch (2013-2017) and he also played John Knox in Mary, Queen of Scots (2018), Crowley in Good Omens (2019-23), Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days (2021) and Litvinenko (2022). David Tennant returned for the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who, The Day of the Doctor (2013), and also made a surprise return as the 14th Doctor for three special episodes to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who. He also had the rare distinction of semi-regenerating into the 15th Doctor played by Ncuti Gatwa.”
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