David Tennant was warned against starring in Doctor Who
David Tennant has revealed that he was told by his former agent not to take on the role of the Time Lord in the iconic BBC sci-fi series 'Doctor Who'.
David Tennant was warned not to take the role of the Doctor in 'Doctor Who'.
The 53-year-old actor played the Tenth Doctor on the hit sci-fi series from 2005 to 2010 and briefly returned in 2023 to play the Fourteenth Doctor for the BBC show's 60th anniversary specials but has admitted that he was told to swerve the part by his former agent.
During an episode of his podcast 'David Tennant Does a Podcast With...', he said: "There was definitely a moment where I wasn't [going to do 'Doctor Who'].
"About 48 hours after they asked me, and I had to go process everything that it meant. I had an agent at the time who was like, 'Don't touch it. It's not going to work.' Not my current agent. A previous brilliant agent who's since retired, but she didn't call that correctly."
David eventually proved to be a popular Time Lord with fans, but admits that his life was transformed in some uncomfortable ways as a result of starring in the series.
The 'Rivals' actor said: "Suddenly you've got to establish what the rules are for yourself, and there's not really anyone to help you or teach you. And that can be a little bit challenging.
"I've found things like my parents being doorstepped a lot early on, I found that really difficult because I felt like I had to protect them and they were not interested in being protected."
David previously admitted there is always a chance he could come back to the show again in the future following his brief return as the Time Lord, though he insisted he has "no plans" to do so.
Speaking to SFX magazine, he said: "I think it would be disingenuous to imagine that I might never be asked again, because history would indicate that it was always a possibility.
"So I’m not going to say never because I don’t think anyone would believe me.
"That doesn’t mean I know that I ever will. But I suppose until I can’t run down a corridor it’s always a possibility. But I promise to have no plans."
