Doctor Who legend David Tennant in unpublished Radio Times photos
A special selection from the hundreds of images preserved in our archive from 2005 to 2009 – many published for the first time.
To celebrate David Tennant’s triumphant return to Doctor Who for the 60th anniversary, we’ve scoured the Radio Times Archive to present some fabulous images from the numerous RT photoshoots Tennant took part in between 2005 and 2009, when he first played the Time Lord.
Many have never been published before, and some were never shown in this form with plain studio backdrops that were digitally changed for RT covers and features across those years.
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Christmas 2005
By Christmas 2005, showrunner Russell T Davies was flush with success after his storming first season starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. But now he was introducing David Tennant as the 10th incarnation of the Time Lord.
Writing in the Christmas double issue of Radio Times, Davies explained, "This is the advent of a brand new Doctor. With David Tennant now at the helm of the Tardis, bringing a wholly different dynamic to the show, we decided to make the story even more epic."
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For much of the storyline of The Christmas Invasion, the new Doctor was running around in pyjamas – as reflected in his first Radio Times photoshoot. But Tennant was already looking ahead, as he told RT: "Filming [for the new season] lasts 38 weeks. It’s relentless, certainly, but it’s not like a real job. Daily, it’s incredibly exciting because it’s so mind-expanding and bonkers!"
The Radio Times Covers Party
In February 2006, Russell T Davies, David Tennant and Billie Piper were honoured guests at the Radio Times Covers Party, celebrating the magazine’s cover stars of the previous year. Acting giant Helen Mirren, who has never appeared in Doctor Who, joined in the fun on the night.
Piper said of co-star Tennant, "He is just the most straight-down-the-line bloke you could wish to meet. He’s your best friend, your brother and your boyfriend kind of rolled into one."
Season 2 - 2006
For the launch of season two, David Tennant’s first full run, Radio Times set up a special photoshoot that would form a gatefold cover of friends and foes.
The photographer, Matt Holyoak, appears himself in several of these rare behind-the-scenes images taken by Ben Gold.
Asked how long he thought he might play the Doctor, Tennant told RT, "I just don’t know and, of course, it’s all anybody ever asks me.
"We’ve just about finished this series and I’m fairly certain I’ll do the next one. Although I’ve yet to record the closing seconds of episode 13 – literally anything could happen. Who knows who’s coming back?!"
Christmas 2006
Come Christmas 2006, the Tenth Doctor found himself embroiled with Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) in The Runaway Bride. "There’s no let-up for him," Tennant told RT. "He’s suddenly flung into a new, bizarre set of circumstances with this woman who’s appeared in his front room, as it were. Then he’s off on this madcap romp with Donna."
Sadly, we have no RT pictures of Donna from that year, but Tate told us in 2006, "We were just delighted that no one was expecting me to turn up in the TARDIS. They said it’s the first time a secret hasn’t leaked out on Doctor Who." Of her character, she revealed, "She’s absolutely furious! She has no time for this madman. And she’s quite feisty, is Donna. That’s her keyword: feisty."
Season 3 - 2007
For his second season, David Tennant teamed up with Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones. He told RT, "It’s one of the things that’s given this show the longevity it has; that it’s essentially the same format, but putting a new relationship at the heart of it spices things up a little bit. Also, obviously, Freema’s a very different actress, so that gives it a different vibe, too."
By the end of the season, the duo would become a trio with the return of John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness for the final three episodes, Utopia, The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords.
These two sets of RT pictures were all taken on the same day in February 2007, allowing for a change of clothing for Tennant and Agyeman.
Children in Need - 2007
For the BBC’s fundraiser Children in Need in 2007, David Tennant was unexpectedly united with Fifth Doctor Peter Davison.
This short interlude set inside the TARDIS was written by Steven Moffat, who told RT: "I bumped into David at a concert and we talked about a way of getting Peter Davison back, because we’re both big fans of Peter’s Doctor. They hadn’t had different Doctors meeting up on the new show. So if we could justify him being a bit older and pop him back in, that would be a laugh."
Moffat continued, "They loved each other! And they worked really well together because they’ve both got a lot of pace and energy as actors. There's a tremendous charm to these two men: both Doctors and both Doctor Who fans."
Tennant would later marry Davison’s daughter Georgia Moffett, bringing them even closer together.
Christmas 2007
For the 2007 Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, David Tennant joined forces with pop icon Kylie Minogue, who was persuaded to return to acting to play Astrid Peth, a doomed waitress aboard a space liner called Titanic.
Tennant told RT, "The Doctor and Astrid very quickly become inseparable." He described co-starring with Minogue as "a very nice meeting of the planets". But would the Time Lord and Astrid kiss? "Well, if you had Kylie in the Christmas special, would you have her kiss the Doctor?"
As the special was set on space version of Titanic, the creative forces of Radio Times and Doctor Who built a set-up in homage to the James Cameron cinema blockbuster with Tennant and Minogue on the prow of the ship. For the RT cover and features, a starry background was added. These are the raw shots.
Season 4 - 2008
For David Tennant’s final season, Catherine Tate was back full-time as Donna Noble.
"Everyone assumed Donna was a one-off – myself included," she told RT. "But now she has a whole season to have a story arc. So none of the feistiness has been lost, but you also get to tap into a different side of her – a much more vulnerable side. They’ve really rounded Donna out from being a shouting fish wife to someone who’s quite vulnerable and emotional."
Tennant added, "They’re good at limiting each other’s less appealing excesses. There’s an equality. It’s not quite teacher and pupil, which in a sense the Doctor and Martha and the Doctor and Rose were."
Speaking of whom… Freema Agyeman and Billie Piper were returning as Martha and Rose later in this season – and attending the same Radio Times photoshoot.
Christmas 2008
David Tennant had recently announced his departure from Doctor Who, and this festive special was teasingly entitled The Next Doctor.
Russell T Davies told RT, "Hopefully, that creates a bit more intrigue and hints at interesting developments in the show’s future. Let’s just say that regeneration is a complicated process and never as simple as it seems."
Although the Doctor’s identity and future were in question, Tennant posed for a definitive set of photographs in a Radio Times shoot.
Planet of the Dead - 2009
David Tennant’s initial run in Doctor Who ended with a series of specials. In Planet of the Dead, for Easter 2009, he was teamed with former EastEnders and Bionic Woman star Michelle Ryan as Lady Christina.
"She’s very easy-going," Tennant told RT. "Considering she’s been to Hollywood and back, she’s untouched by pretension or actors' lunacy, which others in her position might be. She’s a delight to have around and seems to be having fun."
Tennant continued, "This Easter episode is, I suppose, the last hurrah for my Doctor. The end is nigh. You can sense the Grim Reaper knocking on the door. But how many times?"
The Sarah Jane Adventures - 2009
By May 2009, David Tennant had filmed The End of Time, his last two episodes of Doctor Who as the incumbent Doctor. But there was one further assignment. A guest appearance in The Sarah Jane Adventures for The Wedding of Sarah Jane. Which makes this his final photoshoot for Radio Times during his four-year tenure, alongside his childhood heroine Elisabeth Sladen.
Tennant told RT in 2009, "If The Sarah Jane Adventures had existed when I was eight, and [Fourth Doctor] Tom Baker had come in for an episode, I would have thought that was the coolest thing on Earth! It’s the sort of proper, sophisticated, exciting drama with which we should be inspiring young minds."
Original Radio Times interviews conducted by Nick Griffiths and Benjamin Cook.
Doctor Who's first 60th anniversary special The Star Beast airs at 6:30pm on Saturday 25th November on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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