Already a well-known theatre actor, David
Tennant achieved wider fame in the United Kingdom for his TV roles
in Casanova and Doctor Who. International audiences know him best
for playing Barty Crouch Jr. in the film adaptation of Harry Potter
and the Goblet of Fire.
At the age of three, David Tennant told his parents that he wanted to become an actor because he was mad about Doctor Who. Although such an aspiration might have been common for a Scottish child of the 1970s, Tennant says he was "absurdly single-minded" in pursuing his goal. He adopted the professional name "Tennant" — inspired by Neil Tennant, the lead singer of the Pet Shop Boys because there was another David McDonald already on the books of the actors' union Equity.
Moving to London in the early 1990s, he lodged with comic actress and writer Arabella Weir, with whom he became close friends and then godfather to one of her children. He has subsequently appeared alongside Arabella in many productions; as a guest in her spoof television series, Posh Nosh; in the Doctor Who audio drama Exile and as panellists on the West Wing Ultimate Quiz on More4. David Tennant developed his career in the British theatre, frequently performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company for whom he specialised in comic roles such as Touchstone in As You Like It, Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors and Captain Jack Absolute in The Rivals, although he also played the tragic role of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet.
With Christopher Eccleston's announcement on 30 March that he would not be returning for a second series, the BBC confirmed David Tennant as his replacement in a press release on 16 April. He made his first, brief appearance in the episode The Parting of the Ways (2005) after the regeneration scene, and also appeared in a special 7-minute mini-episode shown as part of the 2005 Children in Need appeal, broadcast on 18 November 2005. He began filming the new series of Doctor Who in late
July 2005. His first full-length outing as the Doctor was a sixty-minute
special, The Christmas Invasion, first broadcast on Christmas Day
2005. He was also seen in early December in the ITV drama Secret Smile. David Tennant has expressed enthusiasm about fulfilling his childhood dream. He remarked to an interviewer for GWR FM, "Who wouldn't want to be the Doctor? I've even got my own TARDIS!" David had previously had a small role in the BBC's animated Doctor Who webcast Scream of the Shalka. Not originally cast in the production, he happened to be recording a radio play in a neighbouring studio, and when he discovered what was being recorded next door managed to convince the director to give him a small role. This personal enthusiasm for the series had also been expressed by his participation in several audio plays based on the Doctor Who television series which had been produced by Big Finish Productions, although he did not play the Doctor in any of these productions. In 2004 David played a lead role in the Big Finish audio play series Dalek Empire III. He played the part of Galanar, a young man who is given an assignment to discover the secrets of the Daleks. In 2005, he starred in UNIT: The Wasting for Big Finish, recreating his role of Brimmicombe-Wood from Doctor Who: Unbound – Sympathy for the Devil. The play was recorded between him getting the role of the Doctor and it being announced. He also played the title role in Big Finish's adaptation of Bryan Talbot's The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (2005). David has so far confirmed that he will continue to play the Tenth Doctor at least into the revived programme's third series in 2007, and the Sun has reported that he has also signed for the fourth (2008) series, "in a £1 million deal". The Daily Mirror has reported that Tennant is forbidden from attending Doctor Who fan conventions while he is playing the role. David’s casting in Doctor Who has not prevented
him from taking on other roles. In January 2006, he took a one-day
break from shooting Doctor Who to play Richard Hoggart in a dramatisation
of the 1960 Lady Chatterley's Lover obscenity trial, The Chatterley
Affair. Written by Andrew Davies and directed by Doctor Who's James
Hawes for digital television channel BBC Four, Hoggart's son Simon
Hoggart praised Tennant's performance in The Guardian newspaper. "[Extremely
convincing — the suit, the hair, the Yorkshire accent, and trickiest
of all, the speech rhythms. The only thing wrong is his sideburns.
To do this film he had to take 24 hours off from making Doctor Who
in Cardiff and, as he explained, the sideburns wouldn't grow back
in a day." On 17 March 2006, the Daily Mirror reported that David Tennant would star in an upcoming adaptation of H. G. Wells' comic novel The History of Mr Polly for ITV. There has, however, been no official confirmation of this. On 18 April 2006, The Guardian announced that he would star in Recovery, a 90-minute BBC1 drama written by Tony Marchant. He will play Alan, a self-made building site manager who attempts to rebuild his life after suffering a debilitating brain injury in a car accident. David Tennant recently traced his family tree in an episode of BBC One's popular genealogy series, Who Do You Think You Are?, broadcast on 27 September 2006. His episode explored both his Scottish ancestry, and that from Northern Ireland against the backdrop of the Troubles there. Tennant's maternal great-great-grandfather, James Blair, was a prominent Ulster Unionist member of Londonderry City Council after the partition of Ireland, a fact which troubled David, coming from a liberal Protestant background and regarding Ulster loyalist extremism as anathema to him. David Tennant happily owns up to being one of the dullest men on the planet and refers to himself as a "skinny, gawky, freak boy" according to his interview in issue 375 of the Doctor Who Magazine. He drives a Skoda in which he was caught twice on the M4 for speeding while returning to London from Cardiff in October 2006.
In 2008 he took a break from Doctor Who to play Hamlet in Stratford and the West End to sold out audiences.
Film and TV Doctor Who "Children in Need" Episode dated
18 November 2005 (18 November 2005) - The Doctor Smith and Jones (31 March 2007) - The Doctor
Doctor Who: Time Crash (2007) (TV) .... The Doctor Voyage of the Damned (25 December 2007) - The Doctor Partners in Crime (5 April 2008) - The Doctor
Doctor Who: Music of the Spheres (2008) (TV) .... The Doctor The Next Doctor (25 December 2008) - The Doctor "Doctor Who: Dreamland" .... The Doctor (6 episodes, 2009) Planet of the Dead (11 April 2009) - The Doctor
"Rex Is Not Your Lawyer" .... Rex
Alexander (1 episode, 2010) Glorious 39 (2009) .... Hector Haldane MP Einstein and Eddington (2008) (TV) .... Sir Arthur Eddington
David plays the scientist, Sir Arthur Eddington in this biopic.
David plays a character called Chris who has hilarious problems with driving lessons Einstein and Eddington (2007) (TV) (post-production)
David plays Sir Arthur Eddington in this biopic "Dead Ringers" .... Regenerated Tony Blair (1 episode, 2007) "The Catherine Tate Show" .... Mr. Logan (1 episode, 2007) Recovery (2007) (TV)
David plays Alan Hamilton, an ordinary man with a good job, loving wife and family, whose life is turned upside down when he is involved in a car accident and suffers brain damage. Free Jimmy (2006) (voice: English version) David provides the voice over for one character – Hamish – in the English version of a strange Norwegian film about an attempt to free a drug addicted elephant from a circus. What actors do for a living before they are famous!
David plays Richard Hoggart, the academic and writer who was an expert witness in the infamous Lady Chatterly trial of the 1960s.
David plays Jean-Jacques Rousseau the French writer and philosopher in a mini series about the Romantic poets.
David plays a very convincing psychopath in this story of a man who becomes dangerously obsessed with his ex-girlfriend.
David is Barty Crouch Junior, a key character in the story, but only appears in a few scenes as he spends most of the film disguised as Brendan Gleeson. David’s performances in those scenes, however, were very impessive.
David plays Doctor Gordon Briscoe, one of the scientists involved in the project that sent a group of men into space and got only one back, apparently out of his mind.
David is Giacomo Casanova, the greatest lover in history! Wickedly funny, tragic and fantastic. "Blackpool" (6 episodes, 2004)
D.I. Peter Carlisle, ably played by David Tennant, tries to get to the bottom of a murder in Blackpool Traffic Warden (2004)
A comedy short about a traffic warden who is determined to do his job. David plays the Traffic Warden.
David is Mr. Gibson in this adaptation of a lesser known Anthony Trollope novel about class and manners in Victorian England. The Deputy (2004) David plays a character called Christopher Williams in a drama about a fictional Deputy Prime Minister of the British parliament, Bob Galway. Old Street (2004)
David is Mr. Watson in a spooky drama about a man, played by Ray Winstone, who finds himself alone in a car park late at night and wonders if it is haunted or is he going mad. "Spine Chillers" (2003) David played Doctor Krull in one episode of the comedy horror anthology, Bright Young Things (2003)
David is Ginger Littlejohn in this adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies. "Posh Nosh" (2003)
David played Jose-Luis in this short lived spoof series in which two 'posh' chefs present a cookery show. Trust (2003)
David played a character called Gavin MacEwan in this series about a London law firm with the tag line “When you swim with sharks, it's all you can do.” Nine 1/2 Minutes (2002)
David is Charlie in this short film in which a couple meet on a blind date and go from introduction, seduction, relationship, boredom, to break up - in 9 1/2 minutes. "Foyle's War" (2002)
David plays the role of Theo Howard, a committed pacifist who tries to stick by his principles in war torn Britain. "People Like Us" (2001)
David is Rob Harker, the actor, in a comedy about a reporter interviewing people about their jobs.
David is Pete in this short film about a man who wants to break up with his girlfriend and instead finds himself proposing. "Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)" (2000)
David played Gordon Stylus in an episode of this remake of the 70s comedy thriller about two private detectives, one of whom is a ghost. "The Mrs. Bradley Mysteries" (2000)
David is Max Valentine in an episode of The Mrs Bradley Mysteries, a pre-war Miss Marple type detective series.
David plays John in one of six plays for television about relationships, set in present day Manchester. The Last September (1999)
David is Captain Gerald Colthurst in a drama set in 1920s Ireland, against the backdrop of the war of independence. L.A. Without a Map (1998)
David is Richard, an undertaker who writes obituaries for the local paper. He meets an aspiring Hollywood actress and follows her to the USA. "Duck Patrol" (1998)
David is Simon 'Darwin' Brown in an episode from this light comedy about Thames River Police. "Holding the Baby" (1997) David plays the small role of ‘nurse’ in this short lived comedy. Bite (1997) David is Alistair Galbraith in a short film. Jude (1996)
David is the Drunk Undergraduate in a pub who challenges Christopher Eccleston, working man with aspirations to be a scholar, to recite the Creed in Latin. "A Mug's Game" (1996) Gavin Three part series that studies the personal lives of folk in a remote Scottish fishing village that is coming to terms with rationalisation, and globalisation of it's fishing industry.
David plays a guest character by name of Steve Clemens in one episode
David played a character called Campbell in six episodes
David played John MacBryde in one episode of the series
David played the cross-dresser Davina
Davuid's first TV role was as a teenager in this kids show, playing a character called Neil McDonald
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March 2006 issue of New Woman magazine ranked him 20th in their list
of the "Top 100 Men".
David
appeared in several high-profile dramas for the BBC, including Takin'
Over the Asylum (1994), He Knew He Was Right (2004), Blackpool (2004),
Casanova (2005) and The Quatermass Experiment (2005). In film, he
has appeared in Stephen Fry's Bright Young Things, and as Barty Crouch
Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. One of his earliest big
screen roles was in Jude (1996), in which he shared a scene with his
Doctor Who predecessor Christopher Eccleston, playing a drunken undergraduate
who challenges Eccleston's Jude to prove his intellect.
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