  David Tennant as The Doctor. |
The dazzling David Tennant era is over — and the legendary Doctor Who series will never be quite the same again.
Tennant, an affable Scotsman with a crooked smile and the skills of a classically trained Shakespearean thespian, was voted the best Doctor ever in one poll, edging out another fan favourite, Tom Baker. Tennant ensured that the 2005 revival of the series was wildly popular, even after the controversial departure of Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston after only 13 episodes.
But Tennant, too, has now been replaced. English actor Matt Smith will star as the Eleventh Doctor when the next episodes of the British sci-fi series are broadcast in the spring. That means there is time to luxuriate in Tennant’s final hurrah as the time-travelling Tenth Doctor. The BBC today is releasing Doctor Who: The Complete Specials.
The box set, available in either DVD or Blu-ray with identical extras, contains the five specials of 2008-09. They are: The Next Doctor (the 2008 Christmas special), Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars and The End of Time, presented in two parts. Part 1 was the Christmas special for 2009 while Part 2, featuring Tennant in his final stand before his regeneration into the next Doctor, made its debut in early January.
Meanwhile, The Waters of Mars is also available as a stand-alone DVD or Blu-ray. The same is true of The End of Time, which both parts packaged together as a two-disc set.
So what did Tennant bring to the series? Intelligence, talent, bravado, quirky humour and the good sense to know when it was time to pass the torch — and relieve the burden of being a renegade Time Lord.
One of the intriguing things about Tennant is that, as a wee lad of three growing up in Scotland (and still known under his birth name of David John McDonald), he became obsessed with the Doctor Who series of the 1970s. Tennant claims he decided to become an actor at that time, and never wavered.
In the specials booklet, Tennant does an introduction in which he pretends that his adult self time-travels (much like The Doctor does himself in the series), back into his living room in Paisley when he was but “a wee boy.” In the pretend conversation, Tennant the younger asks his elder self: “Really? Do I really get to be The Doctor?”
To which the elder Tennant says: “You do. And listen, you are going to have the best time of your life.”
The box set is his exclamation mark. Tennant, now 38, has appeared in a Harry Potter movie, playing Barty Crouch Jr. in The Goblet of Fire. He has starred in the title role of Hamlet in the 2009 British television film that archived the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production from 2008. He has done dozens of other roles in his 22 years as an actor. But he might forever be known as The Doctor. And Tennant seems to relish that notion.
The specials are fascinating bits of business. Like the original series, which was launched in 1963 with William Hartnell in the starring role, the specials go back in time for historical purposes and forward in time to emphasize science. The Next Doctor is an historical piece set in Dickensian London, circa 1851. Cybermen are stalking crowded streets, kidnapping abandoned children to employ as a workforce. The Doctor, and a delusional man who believes he is The Doctor, team up to save the day.
The series is loads of fun because it is character driven. Special effects are good enough to do the job but not so overwhelming that they take over. And the actors get to act.
So Tennant’s legacy is huge. Matt Smith has big shoes to fill.
bruce.kirkland@sunmedia.ca
