David Tennant Bio: In His Own Words – Video Exclusive, News, Photos, Age

David Tennant, born David John McDonald, is the son of Essdale and Sandy McDonald, born on April 18, 1971 (age: 52). Tennant has two siblings – a sister, Karen McDonald, and a brother, Blair McDonald. He was born in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, and raised in Ralston, Renfrewshire.

David Tennant Biography

Tennant knew he wanted to be an actor from the age of 3 when he became a major fan of the Doctor Who series and was single-minded in that pursuit. He spent years watching every episode of the series and even met and spoke with Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor, at a book signing event. Throughout primary and secondary school, Tennant pursued his goal of becoming an actor by performing in several school productions. Actress Edith MacArthur saw Tennant perform in his first role at age 11 and informed his parents that he would be a successful actor in the theater. At 16, Tennant passed the audition to join the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and stayed there to study acting between the ages of 17-20.

Tennant made his public acting debut at age 16 in an anti-smoking movie by the Glasgow Health Board and appeared in an episode of Dramarama in 1988 at age 17. He made his professional debut in a staging of The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui and appeared as a transsexual barmaid in the TV show Rab C Nesbitt. His first major role came, however, as manic-depressive Campbell in Takin’ over the Asylum in 1994. Shortly after filming the role, Tennant moved to London with actress and writer Arabella Weir, eventually becoming the godfather to her youngest child.

David Tennant ‘Doctor Who’

Arguably one of his best-known roles, Tennant was cast as the Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who in 2005 and remained in the role until 2010. In 2007, he replaced usual favorite Baker as fans’ favorite regeneration of the Doctor. He returned in 2013 to be a part of the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special with Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith, and companions Billie Piper and Jenna Louise Coleman. Tennant appeared on the show again in 2022 and has since remained as the series’ fourteenth incarnation of the character. Piper, Freema Agyeman, and Catherine Tate, Noel Clarke, and John Barrowman played some of Tennant’s main “companions” on the show, though there were many others who simply appeared less frequently. Tennant has notably remained friends with Tate since leaving the show, and the two have worked together again multiple times. They appeared in a sketch for Red Nose Day in 2007, in a 2011 theater production of Much Ado About Nothing, on Laughing At The… and on The Catherine Tate Show.

David Tennant Dating History

In the fourth series of the new Doctor Who Georgia Moffett, the daughter of Fifth Doctor Peter Davison, guest-starred in the episode The Doctor’s Daughter. Moffett and Tennant began dating after filming the episode in 2008. They married in December 2011, after they welcomed their son, Ty Tennant, in 2002.

Tennant has dated many women since rising to fame, including Anne-Marie Duff, Natalie Walter, Keira Malik, Lucy Porter, Sophia Myles, Bethan Britton, and current wife Moffett.

David Tennant Film, Television and Awards

Tennant was the second actor of Scottish descent to play the Doctor. Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor, was Scottish, and the Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi, is Scottish. The other incarnations have been English.

During and after working on Doctor Who, Tennant has appeared in and lent his voice to several films, including Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, How To Train Your Dragon, Fright Night and Nativity 2: Danger In The Manger. He spoke with uInterview exclusively about moving on after being The Doctor for so long. “You know I never really think of it that way. I think as actors it feels like we are all in it together anyways,” Tennant said. “I think life could be worse.”

One of Tennant’s more prominent roles post-Doctor Who was as Peter Vincent in the 2011 remake of Fright Night. “The whole experience was a fantastic one, it was really enjoyable and fun and exciting and to be working on something that scale was a real thrill,” Tennant told uInterview exclusively.

Tennant has appeared in many television programs since leaving Doctor Who, including appearances of Spys Of Warsaw and True Love. He began another starring role as DI Alec Hardy in Broadchurch, was cast in Marvel’s Jessica Jones, appeared in the miniseries The Politician’s Husband as Aiden Hoynes, and starred in the three-part series The Escape Artist. Before and during Doctor Who he appeared on Duck Patrol, People Like Us, Blackpool, Des, Staged and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Tennant has been a guest on a lot of TV programs as well, including QI, Mind The Buzzcocks, Top Gear, Comedy World Cup, Earthflight and Eddie Izzard: Marathon Man.

Though Tennant is probably best known for his role as The Doctor, he began in theater work and has gained widespread fame from those performances. In fact, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2007 and began performing with them in 2008, calling theater his “default way of being.” Tennant has appeared in dozens of productions, including Antigone, The Glass Menagerie, As You Like It, King Lear, The Comedy Of Errors, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Romeo And Juliet, Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, Much Ado About Nothing and Richard II, among dozens of others.

Tennant has lent his voice to many radio dramas and CDs. He narrated Henry VI parts 1-3 for Arkangel Shakespeare as well as the BBC audiobooks for three Doctor Who spinoffs, played the part of Benedick in a BBC 4 reading of Much Ado About Nothing, played Malvolio in a BBC 3 reading of Twelfth Night, among several other audio projects, and appeared as George in a BBC 4 reading of Of Mice And Men.

Tennant has been nominated for several awards throughout the years, including a Satellite Award, a Broadcasting Press Guild, a Royal Television Society Programme Award, a BAFTA Scotland Award, and a Saturn Award for his role on Doctor Who alone. He has won dozens of awards for his performances, including a Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland for his role in Look Back In Anger; a TV Choice Award for his role in Broadchurch; a Critics’ Circle Theatre Award and a Theatregoers’ Choice Award for his role in the stage production of Hamlet; a National Television Award, BAFTA Cymru, a Constellation Award, and a TV Quick and TV Choice Award for his role as the Tenth Doctor. In 2021, Tennant won a U.K. National Television Award for his role in Des. In 2022, he won a Gold World Medal at the New York Festival for Best Comedy for his performance in Staged. In 2023, he won a Silver Telly and a Bronze Telly for the same role.