David Tennant
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It was very exciting to meet David Tennant at the Entertainment Media Show held at Earl's Court in October 2011. He signed a print for me, and I had this super photo taken with him.
David Tennant was born as David John McDonald in Bathgate, near Glasgow, in 1971. His father, Alexander 'Sandy' McDonald, was the local Presbyterian minister, who went on to become Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland (a position equivalent to the Archbishopof
Archbishop of Canterbury). He has an older sister, Helen, and an older brother, Blair.
David Tennant as Neil McDonald in
The Secret of Croftmore in 1988
David Tennant in
The Ghost of Benji O'Neill
Aged only three, David
....Paisley Grammar School
David McDonald at....
David told his parents that he wanted to become an actor, after enjoying episodes of Doctor Who, which he watched avidly for years, even meeting Tom Baker at a book signing event in Glasgow. David went to Ralston Primary School in Paisley, and then on to Paisley Grammar School. He acted in a number of school productions
productions, and also attended a Saturday youth theatre club, an offshoot of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. When he was 16, he passed an audition to study there full-time. David changed his surname to Tennant (after Neil Tennant, singer with The Pet Shop Boys) to join the actors' union, Equity.
Aged 16, Tennant was talent-spotted by Scottish TV to appear in an anti-smoking film made for the Glasgow Health Board, to show in schools. This led to a role in the Scottish TV series Dramarama playing Neil McDonald in the episode entitled The Secret of Croftmore (1988).
In The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui
Tennant left the Royal Scottish Academy in 1990 with a BA degree, and toured
toured, for a couple of years, with the experimental Scottish theatre group 7:84. With them, he had his first professional role in Brecht's The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui (1991).
By 1996, David Tennant had about a dozen different productions under his belt, at theatres
David Tennant as Touchstone in
Shakespeare's As You Like It
theatres in Edinburgh, Dundee, London and Manchester. These included Hay Fever (1992); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Tennant in The Glass Menagerie
Woolf? (1992) and The Glass Menagerie (1996). One of these roles, Nicholas Beckett in Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw (1995) at the National Theatre, required Tennant to appear totally naked on stage.
In 1996, aged just 25, Tennant joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. His comic performance as the jester Touchstone in As You Like It received critical acclaim, as did his other 1996 RSC roles - as Colonel Hamilton in The General from America and Jack Lane in The Herbal Bed.
completely naked on stage.
As Jack Lane in The Herbal Bed
Tennant as Col. Hamilton in
The General from America
In the RSC's 2000 season at Stratford-upon-Avon,
Avon, Tennant played Antipholus of Syracuse in Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors; Captain Jack Absolute in Sheridan's The Rivals and Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, which also had a run at the Barbican in 2001. In 2003, Tennant played Katurian in thewo
Tennant with Alexandra Gilbreath in
Romeo and Juliet
David Tennant in The Rivals
the world premiere of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman at the National Theatre
David Tennant as Jimmy Porter in
Look Back in Anger
David Tennant in The Pillowman
David Tennant holds Andre Tchaikovsky's
skull in the RSC production of Hamlet
David Tennant in the TV version of Hamlet
David Tennant as Berowne in
Love's Labour's Lost
For the 2008 season, Tennant played Berowne in Love's Labour's Lost and the title role in Hamlet both at Stratford's Courtyard Theatre. In Hamlet, Tennant used the skull of concert pianist Andre Tchaikovsky who bequeathed it to the RSC after hisd
his death in 1982, for use in stage productio
productions. The skull was also used for the 2009 TV version of Hamlet which, in 2011, became the subject of a UK first class postage stamp!
An even greater success came in 2011 when the four-month run of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, with David Tennant playing Benedick and Catherine Tate as Beatrice, was a complete sellout at the West End's Wyndham's Theatre.
David Tennant as Benedick in
Much Ado About Nothing
Tennant's first big-screen credit was as a 'drunken undergraduate' in Jude (1996), sharing a scene with Christopher Eccleston. In the comedy romance L.A. Without a Map (1998) he plays Richard, an obituary writer from Bradford who pursues Barbara, his American love interest, to Los Angeles.
As Richard in L.A.Without a Map
David Tennant in Jude
As Colthurst in The Last September
After the Anglo-Irish themed The Last
Last September (1999) in which he is cast as a young army officer Captain Colthurst, Tennant's next film was Stephen Fry'sBr
Fry's Bright Young Things (2003), where he plays the repulsive Ginger Littlejohn, one of a young and decadent crowd, in this film version of Waugh's Vile Bodies.
As Littlejohn in Bright Young Things
David Tennant has also made two appearances in 'school' films - as 'Barty' Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), and as Lord Pomfrey in St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold (2009).
As Bartholomew 'Barty' Crouch in
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
David Tennant as Lord Pomfrey in
The Legend of Fritton's Gold
As Hector Haldane MP in Glorious 39
2011 saw the release of a remake of Fright Night, with Tennant as self proclaimed vampire killer Peter Vincent. Another film released in 2011 was United, based on the
the true story of the 'Busby Babes' and the Munich air disaster. Tennant gives a strong performance as the Manchester United assistant-manager, Jimmy Murphy.
As Peter Vincent in Fright Night
David Tennannt as Jimmy Murphy in United
Away from the theatre, the bulk of Tennant's work has been for TV, and he has been seen in a number of series. The earliest was playing Davina, a transsexual in Rab C Nesbitt (1993), but his big TV break came in the six-episode series Takin' Over the Asylum (1994) playing Campbell Bain, a manic depressive.
As Davina in Rab C Nesbitt
As Campbell in Takin' Over the Asylum
As MacBryde in The Tales of Parahandy
Other series roles followed - the 'nerdy' young river policeman Simon 'Darwin' Brown in Duck Patrol (1998); the slimy Rev. Gibson in the Victorian melodrama He Knew He Was Right (2004); the corrupt D.I. Carlisle in Blackpool (2004) and the young version of the title role in Casanova (2005).
As D.I. Carlisle in Blackpool
As Gibson in He Knew He Was Right
There have also been one-off appearances in other series including The Bill (1995); Randall & Hopkirk Deceased (2000); The Mrs Bradley Mysteries (2000) and Foyles War (2002).
As Theo Howard in Foyle's War
As Steven Clemens in The Bill
David Tenant & Richard Wilson in Duck Patrol
David Tennant as Young Casanova
David Tennant as Max Valentine in
The Mrs Bradley Mysteries
David Tennant as Gordon Stylus in
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Kate Ashfield & David Tennant in
Secret Smile
Tennant in The Chatterley Affair
David Tennant in the title role of Hamlet
Some of Tennant's notable roles in TV movies include Dr Briscoe in The Quatermass Experiment (2005); Brendan Block in Secret Smile (2005) and Alan Hamilton in Recovery (2007). Other recent TV work includes Learners (2008); Einstein
As Eddington in Einstein and Eddington
David Tennant as Chris in Learners
As Dr Gordon Briscoe in
The Quatermass Experiment
With Suranne Jones in Single Father
Einstein and Eddington (2008); and the mini-series with Suranne Jones Single Father (2010). The TV version of the RSC's stage production of Hamlet (2009) with Tennant as Hamlet, has been widely acclaimed.
In 2005, the BBC were looking to cast the role of the Ninth Doctor for their long-running series Doctor Who. Although Tennant was considered for this,ttt
With Billie Piper in Doctor Who
shop assistant Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), medical student Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) and the fiery 'temp' worker Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). In the 2008-10 specials, he travelled without one.
Tennant & Freema Agyeman
Tennant & Catherine Tate
David Tennant & Elisabeth Sladen in Doctor Who
Tennant makes his first appearance as The Doctor at the very end of the episode 'The Parting of the Ways' when
when his character regenerates from that of Christopher Eccleston's. Tennant then appeared in 36 different stories over 47 episodes, before regenerating into Matt Smith's Eleventh Doctor. In 2009, Tennant also guest-starred as The Doctor in a two-episodes of the spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures. Each Doctor has his own, characteristic dress style. As the Tenth Doctor, Tennant normally wears either a dark brown (or blue) four-buttoned pinstripe suit, shirt & tie, a long, fawn, suede overcoat, and (usually) red trainers.
David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor
The Tenth Doctor with sonic screwdriver
David Tennant & Tommy Smith in
The Sarah Jane Adventures
With his great popularity in Doctor Who, Tennant became much in demand for guest appearances on shows like Parkinson (2007); Top Gear (2007); The Andrew Marr Show (2007 & 2008); The Paul O'Grady Show (2009); The Graham
David Tennant on Top Gear
My Tardis print signed by David Tennant and 5 other Doctors
In 2006, Tennant was the subject of an episode of the genealogy programme
programme Who Do You Think You Are? In this, he travels from Paisley to Mull in search of his Scottish ancestors.
David Tennant in
Who Do You Think You Are?
In his personal life, David Tennant became engaged to actress Georgia Moffett in 2011, and in April that year, their daughter Olivia was born. Tennant met Georgia (whose father is a former Doctor Who, Peter Davison) when she played The Doctor's daughter in Season 4, Episode
With Georgia Moffett in Doctor Who
Episode 6 of the show in 2008. Georgia already has a son, Tyler (b.2004). Tennant Adam
Sophia Myles & David Tennant in
Doctor Who
and Georgia were married on 30th December 2011, in a private ceremony in London, with just family and close friends invited.
Peter Davison & David Tennant
National Theatre, and two years later won a CATS Award for his portrayal of Jimmy Porter in Osborne's Look Back in Anger at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh.
this, the part was eventually given to Christopher Eccleston. However, Eccleston soon announced that he would only be taking on the role for one season, and this led to Tennant becoming the Tenth Doctor, a part he would play for five years, in 3 series and 8 specials. His companions included shop
I took this photo of David Tennant at Earl's Court
(Entertainment Media Show - 2nd October 2011)
QI (2009); Alan Carr: Chatty Man (2009); The Graham Norton Show (2011) and the BBC's Breakfast (2011) to name but a few!
