David Tennant reveals why he didn’t give Jodie Whittaker any Doctor Who acting advice

The former Tenth Doctor knew exactly what he was doing

Published: Sunday, 10 February 2019 at 11:40 am

When discovering that Jodie Whittaker was set to play the first female Doctor in Doctor Who, David Tennant knew one thing for sure – he definitely wasn’t going to give her any tips on how to play the role.

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“One would never give advice about how to play a part,” Tennant, who played the fan-favourite Tenth Doctor from 2005 to 2010, told the Observer.

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“The acting bit is what you go to drama school for. All you can help with is the other stuff.”

Accordingly, Tennant explained, all his Time Lord to Time Lord advice would be limited to what Whittaker would be facing outside of the studio, specifically when it came to Doctor Who’s unique fan culture.

“To certain people, you’ll always be the Doctor, which is a wonderful, humbling thing but it does mean accepting an adjustment to your life,” Tennant said.

“You have to be ready for that. It’s a unique experience and there’s a very small support group who know how that feels.”

“Jodie was such an exciting choice,” he added of his former Broadchurch co-star. “I’m hugely proud of how successful she’s been.”

If only we all had a friendly support group of Time Lords to help us through our difficult work problems. Oh well.

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Doctor Who returns to BBC1 in 2020

Authors

Radio Times commissioning editor Huw Fullerton. He sits in front of a shelving unit, looking at the camera and smiling. He wears glasses and has a moustache

Huw FullertonCommissioning editor

Huw Fullerton is a commissioning editor for Radio Times magazine handling comedy, entertainment and specialist drama. In a previous regeneration, he covered all things sci-fi and fantasy for RadioTimes.com.

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