David Tennant
David Tennant was born David MacDonald on 18th April, 1971 in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, the son of a Church of Scotland minister. The family moved to Paisley when David was a small boy.
Tennant, who has been a life long fan of Doctor Who, was chosen to take over as the Doctor from Christopher Eccleston.
Indeed when he was 13, David Tennant wrote an English essay at Paisley Grammar School entitled 'Intergalactic Overdose' - in which he wrote:
"I was a Doctor Who Junkie ... I was convinced I was going to play the part of the doctor on T.V."
When he was 17, David Tennant joined the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
After leaving the Academy, David Tennant got some theatrical and pantomine work in Scotland, but moved across the border and gained several roles including playing in RSC performances of Romeo and Juliet, The Rivals and The Comedy of Errors.
The BBC's page - Actor David Tennant conquers TV outlines his meteoric rise including his nomination for a best actor Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for his 2002 performance as Jeff in Lobby Hero at London's Donmar Warehouse and New Ambassador's theatres.
Tennant's TV roles have included Campbell in Takin' Over The Asylum; DI Carlisle in Blackpool and the title role in Casanova.
David Tennant topped Broadcast magazine's UK's best TV talent list at the end of 2005.
Tennant appeared briefly in the last episode in the first comeback series of Doctor Who, and plays the Doctor alongside Billie Piper as Rose in a Christmas 2005 Special.
His continued work as Doctor Who won David Tennant the most popular actor award at the 2006 National Television Awards and, in November 2006, he was voted the best Doctor Who in a survey of 4,000 readers of Doctor Who Magazine.
In his summer break from Doctor Who, David Tennant worked on the BBC drama, Recovery, playing a character, Alan Hamilton, who has cognitive defects after a road accident.
After filming Recovery, Tennant became a patron of Headway, a facility in Essex for people who go through similar events to that of his character.
In the autumn of 2007, it was announced that David Tennant would star in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet in 2008.
In April 2008, The Mail reported that David Tennant was dating Jennie Fava, a second assistant director on Doctor Who, having recently split up with another BBC Wales staff member, Bethan Britton.
