Former Doctor Paul McGann has spoken out about the essence of romance that can sometimes be woven through Doctor Who, citing David Tennant as the reason why.

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Speaking in an interview in the most recent issue of Doctor Who Magazine, McGann was promoting the live audio event of The Stuff of Legend at Cadogan Hall with co-star India Fisher, who voices Charley Pollard.

Fisher said: "Well, everyone always mentions this, but I never took it that way. People got upset during Scherzo [2003]. We were meant to kiss in that one, but actually, we melded into one, and everyone got very upset.

"But now, of course, the Doctor is snogging all over the shop."

McGann added: "That’s because of David Tennant! The David Cassidy of Doctors!"

David Tennant in Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder in an undercoat, shirt and tie
David Tennant in Doctor Who: Wild Blue Yonder. BBC

Fisher continued: "But for me… Charley’s love of the Doctor is complicated. He is her everything. She was 18 when she stowed away. So, the Doctor is her family and her love interest.

"Yeah, it’s a complicated feeling that she has for the Doctor."

"With Charley, it’s got to be platonic," McGann said, insisting: "The Doctor cannot be a love interest. It’s impossible."

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Fisher then added: "Yeah, the Doctor needs to be asexual. There’s no sex in the TARDIS!"

Although McGann's eighth incarnation of the Doctor was responsible for having his first on-screen kiss, McGann then said: "I think that’s the rule you don’t break. I think if that happened, Doctor Who would lose one of its hugest advantages. You can’t go back after that."

The line-up of the full-cast live recording event also includes Alex Macqueen as the Master and Nicholas Briggs as the Daleks, with the official synopsis teasing: "Something is afoot in the lonely Cornish village of Merrymaid Bay.

"Rumours of dead men working in the tin mines have sent a chill through the community, and it's up to the Doctor and Charley to get to the bottom of the mystery."

It continues: "Can the legends of the Bucca that haunts the mines be true? And just what awesome power do the Doctor’s greatest enemies – the Daleks! – threaten to unleash upon the universe?"

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine is available to order now.

Doctor Who will return at Christmas on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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