Go BTS on David Tennant's Doctor Who regeneration as he breaks down scene
Watch how the epic regeneration came to life.
One year since the epic reveal of David Tennant returning as the Doctor following the Thirteenth Doctor's regeneration, Doctor Who has released a behind-the-scenes video of how the regeneration came to be.
No one can forget the moment when Jodie Whittaker's Doctor bid farewell and said: "That's the only sad thing... I wanna know what happens next. Right then, Doctor whoever I'm about to be – tag, you're it!" And we were soon met with a very familiar face.
The new video shows how Tennant developed the regeneration with the crew, and how Whittaker was still a part of the process.
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Filmed in 2022, Tennant said: "I have no idea what is going on in this scene, all I know is I turn up at the end of it. I've not been allowed to see anything else. It's all a mystery to me.
"Jodie was supposed to turn into me but Jodie's not here. She did her bit a long time ago. We were texting through the whole experience, I wanted her to feel like she was sharing it in the moment."
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Fans can see Tennant filming in front of a green screen, attempting to mimic how Jodie Whittaker's final scene went as she wasn't in attendance.
Rachel Talalay, who has directed the first of David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor 60th anniversary specials, explained she was given the footage of Jodie's regeneration and had to ensure her turning into David was executed perfectly.
One part of the video shows Talalay explaining to Tennant how the regeneration is going to work.
"So by the time you come out of that into the forward position. It will be fully you. And then you'll have to tell us what you want to do," she tells him, to which he responds: "[I'll] do it exactly as I did it last time."
In the iconic regeneration, Tennant's Doctor says: "I know these teeth," which is a reference to the Tenth Doctor's first words ("New teeth... that's weird."), before then saying Ten's classic "What? What?! WHAT?!"
Speaking about watching Doctor Who regenerations as a child, Tennant said: "I remember as a kid those moments when the Doctor changed. It was mind-blowing, inconceivably exciting. It was the beginning of a new chapter for this show that I loved so much. So you want to try and remember that when you're at the other side of it, telling that story."
Russell T Davies, who returns as Doctor Who showrunner, made it clear that Tennant is "the Fourteenth Doctor", and that there is "something subtler going on that does get revealed".
Tennant recently teased the upcoming Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials, saying the instalments will be "unlike any episode ever".
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While details about what the specials will entail remain shrouded in secrecy, Tennant said: "I was surprised when I saw what that first script was based on, then I read the second script, which is unlike any Doctor Who episode ever. These new specials are Russell off the leash."
Towards the end of the video, Tennant said the intention behind the regeneration was to "take a few people by surprise".
"Part of the idea of announcing Ncuti's name was so that people would be expecting him to turn up in this scene," he explained.
Ncuti Gatwa was announced as the new Doctor in May 2022, and makes history as the first Black actor be cast as the regular lead in Doctor Who.
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.
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