back to article David Tennant quits Who

David Tennant will step down as Doctor Who when he's completed filming on the four special episodes slated to hit the small screen in 2009-2010, the BBC has confirmed. Tennant will also appear in this year's Who Xmas special - entitled The Next Doctor - before handing over the keys to the Tardis to a new resident for Series 5 …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Marc Lawrence
    Dead Vulture

    David Who?

    David Who?

    He exits as Tennant of lost BBC corporation

    The logo looks like REG should be relabled BBC

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Russell Brand for the next Doctor

    With a male sidekick for a change... Who's free, oh yes, Ross.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

    That is all.

  4. Jay
    Unhappy

    Bugger

    Pity I was looking forward to the new series with Moffatt's writing and no sodding Catherine (Not Funny) Tate.

    So now we get the long, drawn out saga of who is going to be the next Dr Who. Only rivaled by the same process for who will be the next James Bond.

  5. dervheid

    Well, I suppose recent 'events'...

    have rather slimmed down Russell Brand's chances then!

  6. Martin Bjelk
    Coat

    Hugh Laurie...

    Would that be Dr Whouse, then?

    The lab coat, please.

  7. Elmer Phud
    Go

    New Doctor

    I reckon it should be Catherine Tate as the new Doctor.

    If the technology is that far advanced then regeneration as a female should be a normal occurrence. Tate is now a seasoned Who character and there's no knowing what she and the Doc have got up to - or any assistant for that matter.

    Nah, not Rose 'Because I Want To' Tyler, too obvious, too much pandering to the 'any female assistant has to be fuckable' lads mag commentators.

    (yes, you do hear the sounds of goats and a 'ricketty-racketty bridge'. fodder for the Twat-O Tron folks)

  8. Iain

    Confused of Tunbridge Wells

    David Tennant quits The Who, Robert Plant quits Eastenders, the BBC is proper going down the pan this time hell in a handbasket daily mail david cameron?

  9. Lloyd
    Go

    Arse

    But at least Tate is never going to darken the Tardis door again and Moffat's directing/producing, as long as they get someone halfway decent I don't have a problem.

  10. Pat

    Who's Who?

    Felicity Kendal for the new doctor! That's what I heard.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Next Doctor

    Yep, another vote for Johnnie Walker and Sally Traffic here.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Someone short.

    I mean really short. Imagine a running joke of the Doctor getting in trouble cos he can't reach a high shelf. That way he'll keep getting caught.

  13. caffeine addict

    Not a Dr Who fan, but...

    I thought there was some rule that Dr Who could only regenerate 9 times. Doesn't that make Tennant the last Who ever? So we'll have some awful twin brother stepping out of the shower to find it was all a dream in an alternate reality scenario, yes?

  14. Blitheringeejit

    Who's next?

    Can they afford Maggie Smith?

    Or if it has to be a bloke, how about Benjamin Zephania?

    Sarah Jane, for my lost youth...

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Any votes for..........

    Ralph Fiennes - make a top Dr who.

  16. Mark York
    Flame

    caffeine addict

    Time lords have 13 lives, from 12 regenerations.

    Flame due to the firey phoenix style of regenerations from the new series.

  17. Neil Greatorex

    My money is on

    Rupert whatshisface from Spooks :-)

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The rumour mill has spoken

    Lots of people are speculating Patterson Joseph.

    He can clearly do it, check the Neverwhere videos on Youtube for proof.

  19. Michael Chester
    Paris Hilton

    @caffeine addict

    Time lords have 12 regenerations, however there is precedent for them getting more (the master in the old series, and umm.... the master in the latest series). Plus we still have his daughter out there somewhere if they do eventually run out (possibly kill her off and have her regenerate into someone who would be less annnoyign as a main character)

    Paris for the next Doctor!

  20. Dark Horse

    Dr Who's daughter?

    Oooh.. what about the lass from the episode where she was Dr Who's daughter? Can she take over the reigns? I'd enjoy that!

  21. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    @Mark York

    Unless plot dictates otherwise (see... well, just about any story with the Master in it).

    If they're choosing new actors for the roll, how about Tom Baker, the voiceover guy off Little Britain? Good voice, and I've got a feeling that he'd make a good Doctor.

  22. Keith Glass
    Happy

    Here's a concept:

    Combine two great British Traditions: Doctor Who, and the Page 3 girl. Of course, the Sonic Screwdriver will now need attachments. . .

  23. Sarah Bee (Written by Reg staff)

    Re: Dr Who's daughter?

    Reins. REINS. You'd think someone called Dark Horse would know. Tsk.

    Laurence Fox. Or Tobias whassisface, you know, he was in Rome.

  24. Anonymous John

    How about Alex Kingston?

    Her appearance in the last series left a lot of loose ends.

  25. drunk.smile

    I like the suggestion of Paterson Joseph

    Although only because I have nostalgia for his role in Neverwhere (Great tv show).

    I sadly fear that Russel T Davies will have a hand in the end of Tennants doctor so it's likely that 'the Doctor's Daughter' will come in and fill the role when this current doctor dies. (Kinda like Saw II - yep shite).

    My vote still stands as it did last time with Eddie Izzard for doctor.

  26. Matt Underwood

    Thank god for that.

    Well, since they've already trashed the Doctor Who brand, taking it from Cult Sci-fi and making it a Saturday night family special with 2 comedy guests per episode (oh, look the bad guy this week is Ainsley Harriot mummy), why not go the whole hog and have a guest Doctor each week too.

    You could get the current load of easily pleased 'Who fans creaming by engineering ridiculous plots where Billy Piper is the doctor for a bit, and Tennant comes back as a space alien Santa for a christmas special.

  27. William Towle
    Alien

    Re: caffeine addict

    caffeine addict> "I thought there was some rule that Dr Who could only regenerate 9 times. Doesn't that make Tennant the last Who ever?"

    Mark York> "Time lords have 13 lives, from 12 regenerations."

    ...and in "The Deadly Assassin", the Master reaches this last life - yet he's been hanging about in various incarnations ever since. Even in the Canon nothing is written in stone, it would seem.

    I can only suggest "watch this space".

  28. Sam
    Coat

    Don't be too sure

    ..About Tate coming back, and she wasn't as bad as I thought she was going to be.

    She kept saying "I'm Donna Noble, I'm a temp."

    Donna=Lady

    Temp=Time

    Noble=Lord

    The anorak, ta.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Replacement

    How about Marc Warren, he'd be great as the new Who

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @The Master's later incarnations

    I don't think that mind-raping people and stealing their bodies is really the Doctor's style. Although it does provide canon evidence of how the regeneration limit can be bypassed.

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    re: how about Benjamin Zephania?

    Now that would be a fine choice.

  32. Why
    Go

    Thank god for that.

    Finally.

    enough said.

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Paterson Joseph

    I hope it's not Paterson, given the total lack of subtlety the show has shown when dealing with gay characters (look everyone, here's another gay character, aren't we progressive!) I suspect we'll be hit over the head every week as the writers attempt to prove how politically correct they all are.

  34. ShaggyDoggy

    The return of

    Can we please have TOM BAKER back

    Thanks

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    who cares who's who

    Just DON'T LET RTD WRITE THE REGENERATION EPISODE!

  36. Keiron
    Thumb Up

    And the next doctor is...

    Russell Brand, thats why all this fuss has been kicked up just prior to the current doc saying hes stepping down, its true i tell ya, its all true, says so on t'interweb!

  37. James Hughes

    Cult SciFi?

    >>>Well, since they've already trashed the Doctor Who brand, taking it from Cult Sci-fi and making it a Saturday night family special with 2 comedy guests per episode (oh, look the bad guy this week

    is Ainsley Harriot mummy), why not go the whole hog and have a guest Doctor each week too.

    <<

    Er, If I remember my yoof correctly, it started out as a 'Saturday night family special' - cannot comment on comedy guests, too busy hiding behind the sofa.

  38. Tom

    The Doctor's lives

    Yes, it is 13 lives from 3 regenerations. But the Beeb has also written themselves into a corner from when they were desperately trying whatever it took to kill the original series. In the Colin Baker episode/season Trial of a Time Lord, they established that the 13th Doctor was evil. So if they stick to the established regenerations/time lord timeline elements, they don't have many regens left.

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Political Correctness

    See, this is why I hope it is Patterson. Not only is he black and thus able to shut up the PC brigade, but he is actually able to do the role justice.

    Don't worry, we won't be getting the gay of the week theme anymore, RTD is leaving.

  40. Dogbyte

    Ricky Tomlinson

    "Daleks my arse!"

    (Though Eddie Izzard would be good too)

  41. Andrew Cooper
    Boffin

    The Master's return

    > Even in the Canon nothing is written in stone

    Doesn't he mentions something wishy-washy-vague about how "the timelords resurected him to fight in the Time War" and about how they thought he'd be "the perfect soldier"?

    That turned out well, didn't it?

  42. Peter

    Can we have...

    ...Eddie Izzard.

    Could be a good transition to a female Doctor!

  43. Mal Franks

    Ben Miller or Alexander Armstrong

    As they seems to be in everything else these days

  44. Paul Lee
    Thumb Down

    A new era, thank God

    Now with Tennant and Davies going, we will at last hopefully NOT have important plot explanations delivered at break-neck speed and buried in techno babble. The otherwise high production values and glitzy eye candy may keep the kiddies happy but this DOES not make for good TV. Oh, and get rid of that bleedin' sonic screwdriver. It seems everytime the Doc is in trouble, he whips it out (ooer etc.) and manages to fill a plot hole, or escape from a situation in seconds. Terrible writing.

  45. Anonymous John

    I liked today's Matt cartoon.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/matt/

  46. Eddie Edwards
    Thumb Down

    Oh noes

    Tennant *was* the doctor, in the same way that Baker *was* the doctor.

    The next one will be the Peter Davison of our era.

    So he should clearly be taken from a popular prime-time series about vets.

    Is there one?

  47. Graham Cluley
    Alien

    After all, that's how it all started...

    It's time to go back to basics with Doctor Who.

    When the show started in 1963 it starred a doddery old white-haired man and his granddaughter as his assistant.

    Andrew Sachs, anyone?

  48. Stevie

    New Doctor

    Good. I was getting tired of Tennant's "Black Sabbaff" school of acting - if the dialogue's naff, turn up the volume at which you deliver it.

    Can we have a companion wot don't drop er haiches annorl? S'gerrin old.

  49. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Mandelson?

    He'll probably need a new job in a few weeks.

  50. Joe M
    Stop

    They should shut the whole thing down!

    I loved Dr Who ever since episode one, which I got to see sometime in the mid sixties. But even a timelord must eventually die and I think this is as good a time for the funeral as any.

    The thing is now a total bore! It's basically just a collection of pointless PC vignettes glued together with some breathless special effects and a cacophonous soundtrack which is designed to blow even a Sontaran's impervious brain to smithereens. There is no attempt at acting. The characters just scream at each other hysterically and the good Doctor spends most of his time pulling funny faces and running around aimlessly.

    Vale the Doctor. I will miss him greatly.

    Disclaimer: These comments are only valid when read by a Terran. (I don't particularly feel like being blasted into a time vortex!)

  51. Joseph Harris
    Thumb Down

    Thanks for screwing up next season

    I don't blame him for leaving. I do blame him for delaying next season AND THEN LEAVING.

  52. Blitheringeejit

    You can't have Eddie Izzard...

    ...I've already bagsied him to replace Humprey Littleton as chair of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.

  53. Pat
    Paris Hilton

    show us yer cities? Paris & Vegas

    This cast list might challenge the writers and bring in some new viewers:

    New Doctor = Johnny Vegas

    Assistant = Paris Hilton

    Sonic Screwdriver = Rabbit vibrator

    Maybe it could be like 'Have I Got a Bit More News for You', and have an extended repeat to include the less subtle rude bits? I'd probably watch that (at least more than I can watch the RTD stuff, trying to remember where the plot had been taken from).

  54. PaddyR

    a new who

    Chuck Norris

    Bill Bailey

    Rab C Nesbitt

    George Bush

    Alan Hanson

    Osama Bin Laden

    Gary Glitter

  55. Frank Bough
    Thumb Up

    My Votes

    (not that I can stand the current Dr Who)

    1. Bill Bailey

    2. Hugh Laurie

    3. Stephen Fry

    5. Richard E Grant

    I think any one of those would fit the role nicely. I absolutely HATE the way Tennant plays it, but Ecclestone was good.

  56. steve

    Another self proclaimed "Star"

    What a git! Why is it every time someone becomes the Doctor after one season they think this fame will translate into great movie deals and more fame and fortune? Can't these sods see that they lucked into the best job on BBC (and on TV in general in my opinion) and just be happy that they get however many years they are able to play this character? How long would Star Trek series last if the actor playing the captain changed every season or two?

    David Tennant.... I didn't like you at first but your version of the Doctor grew on me after a while. I hope you fall on sharp spikes and spend your retirement doing hemorrhoid commercials.

    Maybe the next "Doctor" will have a clear head on his shoulders and be satisfied with "just" being a TV actor on a great show.

    Oh, or maybe your career will just go through the roof like... oh ... I don't know... Christopher Eccleston. After he left Dr. Who he go to "guest star" on Heroes and now is playing a part on G.I. Joe... wow... didn't leaving the show help his career? ROFL GIT!

  57. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    James Nesbit

    A favourite of Moffat's, and was previously hinted at as a candidate for the next doctor back when Tennant died (sadly he then came back, thanks to a crap twist :p).

  58. Dave Bell

    Fingers crossed...

    There have been times, over the history of the series, when some pretty stupid things were done. A hard limit on regenerations was one of the dumbest. It may have made for one good story, but the idea of a regeneration not going right would have been enough to drive that story.

    RTD gave us the idea of the Time War, with hints that it would have made the Doctor's memories of his own past inherently unreliable. We can't trust canon. But I don't think he can be subtle.

    And the end of Donna as a Companion was something that could have filled a Special. It was something that could have been strong drama, without spoiling the adventure. And RTD just threw it away in a few minutes at the end of an episode.

    I am not looking forward to how he handles this looming change.

  59. vincent himpe

    ozzie

    i want ozzie osbourne as doctor. Now that would be fun !

  60. Tea-800
    Go

    Hmm...

    Personally, I'd go for Alan Davies, but that's just me.

  61. Angus
    Happy

    Whew

    Well thank god Tennant is going. The last series with him and Ms Tate was bloody horrible. I saw only one and a bit full episode.. the one where he starts to regenerate. Oh how I cheered when he started to regenerate. Oh how I swore when he regenerated into the same idiotic, gabbling git.

    Eccleston you bastard why did you have to leave!

  62. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well

    Who gives a monkeys? After John Pertwee fell on a power pylon and transformed into Worzel Gummidge I stopped watching.

    I was going to say Prescott but even the Tardis ain't big enough.

  63. Steven Knox
    Paris Hilton

    Based on the quality of the new series...

    <- You might as well go whole hog.

  64. Justin
    Happy

    My picks

    1) Sean Connery with Keira Knightley as assistant/granddaughter

    2) Patricia Routledge

    3) Ali G (Sacha Baron Cohen) with Rhona Mitra as sidekick

    4) Lena Headey with Kate Beckinsale as sidekick

    5) The Kumars (pick one as the doctor, the rest as sidekicks!)

    6) Rowan Atkinson with Dylan Moran as sidekick

  65. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Enormous and Spectacular?

    Ooh? Will it be blindingly original like all the other Enormous and Spectacular endings and have Daleks shooting things again???

  66. Matt

    @Graham Cluley

    I concur.

    Presumably then Brand and Woss, sorry Ross, then be brought in to play the villains? Their preferred method of attack being answer phone based shenanigans.

  67. Cap'n wotsit
    Paris Hilton

    Next Doctor

    I'd do it. got nothing special on at the moment, and I can probably fit the job in in between work and pub. but I would require cart blanche on choosing my assistant and her wardrobe choices

  68. Mike
    Alien

    A title is required... Lord? Sir?

    >The next one will be the Peter Davison of our era.

    >So he should clearly be taken from a popular prime-time series about vets.

    >Is there one?

    Animal Hospital? So that would suggest Rolf Harris as the next Doctor...

    "Have you guessed what it is yet?"

    Alien because, well, its sci-fi...

  69. Adrian Simmons
    Thumb Down

    Re: James Nesbit

    You must be kidding. You can't get a more annoying shouty actor so if you think Tennant is bad at doing that wait and see how bad it'll get if that happens.

This topic is closed for new posts.