It’s been 20 years since Doctor Who made me doubt David Tennant

It’s hard to imagine a time when David Tennant wasn’t the quintessential Doctor Who. 

However, in 2006, when he had his first full outing as the Tenth Time Lord, he was on the backfoot.

Up to that point, Christopher Ecclestone was the Doctor. 

But looking back on Tennant’s inaugural series two decades on, I can see how wrong I was to doubt that he could take the groundwork Ecclestone had laid and build upon it.

Just before Tennant’s arrival, for around four months, Ecclestone had done what then seemed impossible and lifted the show’s reboot into a hit. He was lauded for the emotional intensity he brought to the role.

Ecclestone might not have enjoyed his experience as the Doctor – he has since spoken about how the stressful work environment damaged relationships and his trust.

But he was tremendously good at it. 

In Ecclestone’s series finale, The Parting of the Ways, the Doctor regenerates into David Tennant. 

The Christmas Invasion special followed, with a moment of heroics involving a satsuma, to get viewers off on the right foot with his run. But it is largely a Doctor lite episode with little for him to do, so the full reveal didn’t come until New Earth. 

The Doctor and Rose make their first trip beyond Earth’s orbit to New New York, where the special effects are a bit wonky, but that’s the point of Who – and also why the Disney partnership was, in my view, never going to work. 

It thrived on its DIY special effects and uniquely British charm, not big budget spectaculars. 

However, despite the legacy Tennant’s run now has, the premiere of his first full series still isn’t hugely popular amongst the fandom. It has the lowest IMDb score of his entries. Redditor Whovians have called it ‘woeful’, criticising the clashing tone, the repeated description of Rose as a ‘chav’ and the deus ex machina conclusion.

In fairness, the zombie apocalypse towards the end is ridiculous.

But my love of Tennant – who was to become my favourite Doctor – wasn’t guaranteed.

I first watched the episode with the miffed crossed-arms of someone who didn’t like what they were seeing. 

Back in 2006, Tennant was just an actor I didn’t know who had replaced one I adored. It’s the in-built difficulty of the show’s premise, which is partly why the series is in such a tough spot right now with a lack of clarity on whether Billie Piper is going to be the one running the show. 

There were the surface-level reasons Tennant didn’t immediately win me over – I missed the leather jacket and I was still rooting for Rose and the Ninth Doctor. 

To see Billie Piper and Tennant’s immediate chemistry made me miss what she had with Eccleston, but to see their characters refer to their intergalactic sojourn in this episode as their ‘first date’ felt like they took it too far. 

It was like having to witness one of your parents move on after a distressing divorce.

Worse than the romantic shenanigans was the fact that Tennant’s Doctor was so radically different from Ecclestone’s.

Ecclestone had been world-weary, prone to convincing anger in the face of wrong-doing, with a soft spot he showed to Rose. 

This new Doctor however showed his soft spots to everyone. Tennant’s interpretation greeted the world like a golden retriever, with a grinning charm.

But then, when he learned the truth of what the evil Sisters were up to, he flew into a rage that was weirdly jarring after all the joking around. 

In the 2006 season premiere, you can easily see why his Doctor wasn’t gelling yet, but by the heartbreaking finale he had completely won the viewers over. 

In hindsight, it was brave of Tennant to do something so dissimilar with the Doctor. His golden retriever was life-affirming enough to win over myself and so many other viewers.

It certainly paid off. 

Even now, Whovians get whipped up at the slightest hint he might be stepping back into the show from Donna’s garden shed. 

It’s no wonder the BBC show is reportedly struggling to find a new Doctor to helm the Tardis. The Time Lord spot has been described as having a ‘poisoned chalice’ perception among actors, by a source who spoke to The Sun.

When even the brilliant Tennant faced scrutiny, from me and countless others, it is obvious that there is immense pressure in taking on this role. 

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For Ncuti Gatwa, that hill was an even steeper climb – with miserable storylines and the constant narrative about viewership decline. 

On the surface, it’s a dispiriting place for the show to be. But, viewed in a more optimistic Tenth Doctor type of light – it could be an exciting juncture for Who. 

When Ecclestone left with no confirmed replacement, Doctor Who could very easily have gone into freefall. 

Instead, it got even better. 

Tennant’s run might have got off to a bumpy start in my eyes, but when you take a big swing and do something different, it can pay off tenfold.

Maybe the next Doctor will be another Tennant in the making.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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