Early work Tennant made his professional acting debut while still in secondary school. When he was 16, he acted in an anti-smoking film made by the Glasgow Health Board which was shown on television and was also screened in schools. Tennant was awarded his first major TV role as Campbell Bain in the
BBC Scotland drama series ''
Takin' Over the Asylum (1994), after impressing director David Blair during filming of another drama – Strathblair (1992). As Tennant recalled from the audition, "they needed someone who could believably act 19 and bonkers". During filming of Takin' Over the Asylum
he met comic actress and writer Arabella Weir. When he moved to London shortly afterwards, he lodged with Weir for five years He subsequently specialised in comic roles, playing Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors and Captain Jack Absolute in The Rivals, although he also played the role of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet''. Tennant contributed to several audio dramatisations of Shakespeare for the
Arkangel Shakespeare series (1998). His roles include a reprisal of his Antipholus of Syracuse in
The Comedy of Errors, as well as Launcelot Gobbo in
The Merchant of Venice, Edgar in
King Lear, and
Mercutio in
Romeo and Juliet. In 1995, Tennant appeared at the
Royal National Theatre, London, playing the role of Nicholas Beckett in
Joe Orton's
What the Butler Saw. In television, he appeared in the first episode of
Reeves and Mortimer's revamped
Randall and Hopkirk in 2000, playing an eccentric artist. During the Christmas season of 2002, he starred in a series of television advertisements for
Boots the Chemists. Tennant was nominated for
Laurence Olivier Award for
Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his performance in
Kenneth Lonergan's
Lobby Hero. The UK première was staged at the
Donmar Warehouse, in previews on 4 April, opening 10 April and closing on 4 May 2002. This production transferred to the
New Ambassadors Theatre from 26 June (opening 1 July) to 10 August 2002. Tennant appeared in
Bright Young Things (2003), a dramatisation of
He Knew He Was Right (2004),
Blackpool (2004),
Casanova (2005), and
The Quatermass Experiment (2005). Later that same year, he appeared as
Barty Crouch Jr. in the film
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Doctor Who '' showrunner
Russell T Davies (left), regular director
Euros Lyn (centre right), and executive producer
Julie Gardner (right) at
San Diego Comic-Con in July 2009 A fan of Doctor Who since childhood, Tennant had a small role in the BBC's animated
Doctor Who webcast
Scream of the Shalka and appeared in several
audio plays based on the
Doctor Who television series which had been produced by
Big Finish Productions.
Doctor Who returned to British screens in March 2005, with
Christopher Eccleston playing the role of the
Ninth Doctor in the first series. Tennant replaced him as of the second series, making his first, brief appearance as the
Tenth Doctor in the episode "
The Parting of the Ways" (2005) at the end of the regeneration scene. Tennant's first full-length outing as the Doctor was a 60-minute special, "
The Christmas Invasion", was broadcast on Christmas Day 2005. He appeared in three full thirteen-episode series of Doctor Who, broadcast in 2006, 2007 and 2008, plus Christmas specials. Tennant made his directorial debut on the
Doctor Who Confidential episode that accompanies
Steven Moffat's episode "
Blink", entitled "Do You Remember The First Time?", which aired on 9 June 2007. In 2007, Tennant's Tenth Doctor appeared with
Peter Davison's
Fifth Doctor in a
Doctor Who special for
Children in Need, written by Steven Moffat and entitled "
Time Crash". Tennant featured as the Doctor in an animated version of
Doctor Who for
Totally Doctor Who,
The Infinite Quest, which aired on
CBBC. He also starred as the Doctor in another animated six-part
Doctor Who series,
Dreamland. Tennant guest starred as the Doctor in a two-part story in
Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, broadcast in October 2009. In October 2008, Tennant announced that he would be stepping down from the role after three full series. He played the Doctor in the 2008 Christmas special, The Next Doctor, followed by three special episodes in 2009, before his final episode aired on 1 January 2010, where he was replaced by the
Eleventh Doctor, portrayed by
Matt Smith. Tennant and
Billie Piper returned to
Doctor Who for the 50th anniversary special, "
The Day of the Doctor", broadcast on 23 November 2013, with then-stars Matt Smith and
Jenna Coleman and guest star
John Hurt. The same month, he also appeared in the one-off 50th anniversary comedy homage
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot directed by
Peter Davison. In October 2015, Big Finish Productions announced that Tennant would appear in the role of the Tenth Doctor alongside
Catherine Tate as his former companion
Donna Noble in three new stories from
Big Finish. The three stories were released in May 2016. In November 2017, three new audio dramas were released by Big Finish Productions, with Tennant once again starring as the Tenth Doctor, alongside Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. Tennant also returned to the role on 13 July 2018, as part of the live Muppets show
The Muppets Take the O2 in London (in which the Tenth Doctor appeared onstage as part of a live
Pigs in Space sketch). In May 2022, in relation to the show's
60th anniversary, it was announced that Tennant would once again return to the show, alongside Tate, who would reprise her role as Donna Noble. Previously thought to be returning as the Tenth Doctor, in October 2022, the ending of the special episode "
The Power of the Doctor" revealed that Tennant would return as the
Fourteenth Doctor, a role previously expected to be played by
Ncuti Gatwa, who would follow on as the
Fifteenth Doctor. The three 60th anniversary special episodes aired between November and December 2023.
2005–2010 Tennant appeared in the ITV drama
Secret Smile in December 2005. He appeared onstage as Jimmy Porter in
Look Back in Anger at the
Theatre Royal, Bath, and
Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh. He revived this performance for the anniversary of the
Royal Court Theatre in a rehearsed reading. Tennant played
Richard Hoggart in a dramatisation of the 1960 ''
Lady Chatterley's Lover obscenity trial, The Chatterley Affair''. The play was written by
Andrew Davies and directed by
James Hawes for the digital television channel
BBC Four. In early 2007, Tennant starred in
Recovery, a 90-minute
BBC One drama written by
Tony Marchant. Later that same year he starred in
Learners, a BBC comedy drama written by and starring
Jessica Hynes, in which he played a Christian driving instructor who became the object of a student's affection.
Learners was broadcast on BBC One on 11 November 2007. In November 2008, Tennant played
Sir Arthur Eddington in the BBC and
HBO biographical film
Einstein and Eddington. On 13 March 2009, Tennant presented
Red Nose Day 2009 with
Davina McCall. He joined
Franz Ferdinand onstage to play the guitar on their song "
No You Girls" on a special
Comic Relief edition of
Top of the Pops. In summer 2009, Tennant filmed ''
St. Trinian's II: The Legend of Fritton's Gold. The film was released in December 2009. From October 2009, he hosted the Masterpiece Contemporary programming strand on the American Public Broadcasting Service. In December 2009, he shot an NBC pilot for Rex Is Not Your Lawyer''. The legal drama, which would have starred Tennant as a lawyer with an anxiety disorder, was not ordered to series. On 7 March 2010, Tennant appeared as George in a one-part
BBC Radio 4 adaptation of
Of Mice and Men in the
Classic Serial strand. In October 2010 he starred as Dave, a man struggling to raise five children after the death of his partner, in the British drama
Single Father. For this role he was nominated as Best Actor at the
Royal Television Society Programme Awards 2010. Tennant has described theatre work as his "default way of being". He joined the
Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), to play Hamlet with
Patrick Stewart and Berowne in ''
Love's Labours Lost'' in 2008. From August to November 2008 he appeared at the
Courtyard Theatre in
Stratford-upon-Avon as Hamlet, playing that role in
repertory with Berowne that October and November. He returned to his role in the production on 3 January 2009, and appeared until the run ended on 10 January. Tennant's performance of Hamlet was critically acclaimed. In 2009, he worked on a
TV film version of the RSC's 2008
Hamlet for
BBC Two. On 12 April 2011, a photograph of Tennant as Hamlet featured on a stamp issued by the
Royal Mail to mark the RSC's fiftieth anniversary.
2011–2015 in 2015 In 2011, he starred in
United, about the
Manchester United "
Busby Babes" team and the 1958
Munich air disaster, playing coach and assistant manager
Jimmy Murphy. In September 2011, he appeared in a guest role in one episode of the comedy series
This is Jinsy, and also started filming
True Love, a semi-improvised
BBC One drama series which was broadcast in June 2012. Later in September 2011, it was announced that Tennant would voice a character in the movie adaptation of
Postman Pat with a planned
3D theatrical release for spring 2013. In October 2011, Tennant started shooting the semi-improvised comedy film,
Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger in
Coventry. Between April and June 2012, he filmed
Spies of Warsaw for BBC Four, in the lead role of Jean-François Mercier. This drama series shot in Poland is an adaptation of
Alan Furst's novel
The Spies of Warsaw. On 9 June 2012, he started filming the 3-part political drama series ''The Politician's Husband'' for
BBC Two, playing an ambitious cabinet minister who takes drastic action when his wife's career starts to outshine his. In 2012, Tennant also presented the comedy quiz show
Comedy World Cup. In January 2012, Tennant was appointed to the Royal Shakespeare Company board, to be on the selection committee interviewing and choosing the new artistic director. It was announced on 23 January 2013 that Tennant would return to the RSC for the company's 2013 winter season, playing the title role in
Richard II at Stratford-upon-Avon (from 10 October to 16 November) and transferring to the
Barbican Centre in London (from 9 December to 25 January 2014). Tennant repeated his performance as Richard II at the Barbican Theatre in 2016 before transferring to the
Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. Tennant starred in the ITV detective series
Broadchurch as DI Alec Hardy between 2013 and 2017. He reprised the role for the 2014
American remake. Tennant appeared in
The Escape Artist, a three-part series which aired on BBC One in October and November 2013. Tennant starred opposite
Rosamund Pike and
Billy Connolly in
What We Did on Our Holiday, a semi-
improvised comedy film; shooting took place from 17 June to 30 July 2013 in Scotland. The film was released in September 2014. On 9 February 2015, Tennant appeared on the
Radio 4 panel show
Just a Minute, becoming the show's most successful debut contestant. Tennant also portrayed the villainous
Kilgrave in
Jessica Jones, a television series from
Marvel and
Netflix. All 13 episodes were released on 20 November 2015.
2016–2023 In February 2016, Tennant began filming
Mad to Be Normal (previously titled
Metanoia), a
biopic of the Scottish psychiatrist
R. D. Laing. The film premiered a year later at the
Glasgow Film Festival. In 2017, Tennant appeared in writer/director
Daisy Aitkens' first feature film,
You, Me and Him. The film was co-produced by Tennant's wife,
Georgia. Between March and June of that year Tennant appeared in
Patrick Marber's
Don Juan in Soho at the
Wyndham's Theatre. He also became the voice of
Scrooge McDuck for
Disney XD's
DuckTales reboot, replacing the character's longtime voice actor
Alan Young, who died in May 2016. Tennant played villain Cale Erendreich in the thriller film
Bad Samaritan (2018), written by Brandon Boyce and directed by
Dean Devlin. Tennant also plays Crowley in the series
Good Omens, the first season of which was released on
Amazon Prime Video on 31 May 2019 and on BBC Two on 15 January 2020. In February 2019, Tennant launched his own podcast, titled
David Tennant Does a Podcast With... The podcast's episodes have featured
Olivia Colman,
Whoopi Goldberg,
Jodie Whittaker,
Ian McKellen,
Jon Hamm,
Gordon Brown,
Jennifer Garner,
Catherine Tate,
Krysten Ritter,
James Corden,
Samantha Bee,
Tina Fey, and
Michael Sheen. Tennant starred as a doctor suspected of murdering his family in
Deadwater Fell, a Scottish true crime miniseries, which premiered in January 2020 on
Channel 4. He also received his first credit as an executive producer for the series. In September 2020, he portrayed Scottish serial killer
Dennis Nilsen in
Des, a three-part miniseries on ITV. For his performance, he won the
International Emmy Award for
Best Actor. From 2020 to 2022 he starred and produced three seasons of the TV series
Staged, with
Michael Sheen. In 2021, he played the leading role of
Phileas Fogg in an adaptation of
Around the World in 80 Days, broadcast on the BBC, PBS, France 2, ZDF and RAI. In September 2022, Tennant starred as Reverend Harry Watling in BBC1's
Inside Man, which was written by
Steven Moffat. The series premiered on 26 September 2022 to mixed reviews from viewers and critics alike. In December 2022, Tennant starred as
Alexander Litvinenko in the ITV1 dramatisation
Litvinenko. The drama was based on the 10-year fight of Marina Litvinenko and the London police force as they work to prove the guilt and release the names of those responsible for the 2006
poisoning of Litvinenko. In August 2023, Tennant once again provided the voice for the droid Huyang in the live-action
Star Wars series
Ahsoka, having voiced the character in two episodes of season 5 of
The Clone Wars in 2012. His character, also voiced by Tennant, had a cameo in an episode in season 2 of
Young Jedi Adventures in 2024. He played the lead part in Max Webster's production of
Macbeth, which ran at the
Donmar Warehouse in 2023 as well as the
Harold Pinter Theatre in 2024.
2024–present In February 2024, Tennant hosted the
77th British Academy Film Awards. Later that year, he starred in the
Disney+ adaptation of
Jilly Cooper's
Rivals as Lord Tony Baddingham. The series was renewed for a second season in December 2024. In 2025 Tennant starred as the
Guardian journalist
Nick Davies, alongside
Toby Jones, in
The Hack, an ITV drama detailing the
News International phone hacking scandal. He also played Ian Ventham in
The Thursday Murder Club. ==Public image==