David Tennant's Biography
Who is 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.
In 2008, David Tennant told the BBC about the Royal Scottish Academy:
"Nothing I have managed to achieve in my career would have happened without my training at the RSAMD."
After leaving the Academy, David Tennant got some theatrical and pantomime 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 2008 David Tennant returned to the stage to star in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet.
David Tennant also won acclaim for his performance in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, which ran in tandem with Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare's Company's Courtyard Theatre.
In January 2009, David Tennant's performance as Hamlet won him a best Shakespearean performance trophy at the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards.
In May 2009 it was announced that David Tennant was to present Masterpiece Contemporary in the USA.
In November 2009 it was reported that David Tennant was to make his US television debut in the lead role in a pilot for a comedy legal drama, Rex Is Not Your Lawyer.
In November 2010 it was announced that David Tennant had been cast as coach Jimmy Murphy in a forthcoming BBC drama "United", based on Manchester United's legendary "Busby Babes".
In January 2011, he announced his engagement to Georgia Moffett, the daughter of former Doctor Who actor Peter Davison. David and Georgia married on 31 December 2011.
In July 2012, it was announced that David Tennant had been cast as a detective in the ITV1 drama Broadchurch.
In November 2016, it was revealed that David Tennant would play the title role in Patrick Marber's Don Juan in Soho at the Wyndham's Theatre.
In December 2016, it was reported that David Tennant would be the new voice of Scrooge McDuck in a remake of the Disney series DuckTales.
In 2017, he was cast in the six part series Good Omens.
In December 2019, the BBC announced that it had acquired the drama series Around The World In 80 days in which David Tennant plays Phileas Fogg, in an adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic story.
In 2020, David Tennant and Michael Sheen acted as themselves in the BBC One comedy Staged.
He was also cast as Dennis Nilsen in ITV's drama Des.
In 2022, he was cast as Harry Watling in a mini-series Inside Man.
In March 2024, ITV revealed that Davuid Tennant would host a new show Genius Game.
In the same year he was nominated for a Bafta for best male performance in a comedy programme, for his role in Good Omens.
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