David Tennant "owes a degree of sanity" to Billie Piper after Doctor Who
"To be at the centre of the show is wonderful and humbling, but also a bit overwhelming and terrifying."
This year will not only see David Tennant return to Doctor Who, but it will also see him once again hand over the baton of playing the Time Lord to another actor - with Ncuti Gatwa taking over following the 60th anniversary.
When speaking with Variety about Good Omens season 2, Tennant was asked whether he had given Gatwa any advice, to which he said: "The thing about something like this is: it’s the peripherals, it’s not the job.
"It’s the other stuff that comes with it, that I didn’t see coming. It’s a show that has so much focus and enthusiasm on it.
"It’s not like Ncuti hasn’t been in a massive Netflix series [Sex Education], but Doctor Who is on a slightly different level. It’s cross-generational, international, and has so much history, that it feels like it belongs to everyone.
"To be at the centre of the show is wonderful and humbling, but also a bit overwhelming and terrifying. It doesn’t come without some difficulties, such as the immediate loss of anonymity. It takes a bit of getting used to if that’s not been your life up to that point."
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Tennant continued: "I was very lucky that, when I joined, Billie Piper [who portrayed on-screen companion Rose] was still there. She’d lived in a glare of publicity since she was 14, so she was a great guide for how to live life under that kind of scrutiny. I owe a degree of sanity to Billie."
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Tennant also offered his thoughts on Gatwa, calling him a "force of nature" and saying that he’s "so inspired and charismatic".
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Piper played Rose Tyler on the sci-fi show between 2005 and 2006, before returning for other short stints in 2008 and 2013.
It was recently announced that she will be back as the character in three new audio adventures in September, alongside Camille Coduri as Rose's mother Jackie and Em Thane as new character Danni.
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer with episodes of the classic series also available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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