doctor who: the christmas invasion

Identity crisis

David’s birth name is David John McDonald, but he could not use it professionally because another David McDonald was already registered with the British acting union, Equity. David chose his thespian name after reading an interview with Neil Tennant, lead singer of the Pet Shop Boys, in ‘Smash Hits’ music magazine.

Doctor destiny

David’s unrequited love for ‘Doctor Who’ goes way back. At the tender age of four, he announced to his parents that he wanted to become an actor so that he could play his TV hero. Although such an aspiration might have been common for any British child of the 70s, Tennant admitted that he was “absurdly single-minded” in pursuing his goal. His tenacity paid off when, after being pipped to the casting post by Christopher Eccleston as the first of a new generation of Doctors in Russell T Davies’ resurrection of the cult series in early 2005, he took control of the Tardis as the tenth Doctor in late 2005.

Tear-jerking finale

“What was it like?” asked radio host Jo Whiley recently, curious about the moment David read the final script he would perform as Doctor Who. “Very moving. It was quite a big deal really. I sort of turned the phone off and made sure I could read it straight through without too much interruption,” explained Tennant, before sheepishly confessing: “I might have had a little cry.”

Tardis favourite

While David cites Peter Davison as his favourite Doctor from the original series (which ran from 1963-1989), it appears that Tennant himself is widely regarded as the perfect Time Lord. In 2006, readers of ‘Doctor Who Magazine’ voted him the ‘Best Doctor’ over perennial favourite Tom Baker, who had topped every previous poll conducted by the magazine, except in 1990 when fellow Scotsman, Sylvester McCoy, took the title.

Gay icon

Despite David’s romantic involvement with a string of hot females testifying that he is a fully-fledged member of the heterosexual club, he has acquired quite an ardent gay following. In 2006, readers of the gay and lesbian newspaper, ‘The Pink Paper’, crowned him ‘The Sexiest Man in the Universe’. “I was delighted and flattered to be chosen – they have such good taste,” jested David, who is currently dating Georgia Moffett. Ironically, David and Georgia hooked-up while she was playing his on-screen offspring in the 2008 ‘Doctor Who’ episode ‘The Doctor's Daughter’, and she is in fact the real-life daughter of Tennant’s all-time-favourite Doctor Who, Peter Davison.

Better with age

He may have been voted the 16th ‘Sexiest Man in the World’ by Britain’s ‘Cosmopolitan’ magazine in 2008, and ordained ‘Most Stylish Male’ at the 2006 Scottish Style Awards, but David was a far cry from desirable or suave as a youth. “I was spotty with greasy hair,” admitted Tennant, whose best attempt at fashion in his teenage years was a Bono-esque bootlace tie that incited a beating from a bunch of lads that mistook him for a Goth.

Political ancestry

In 2006, David traced his Scottish and Irish ancestry as part of the genealogy series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’. He displayed a degree of discomfort when learning that his great-great-grandfather was a member of the sectarian Protestant fraternal organisation, the Orange Order. David’s own political views are a tad less separatist than his ascendants – he supports the Labour Party, and was happy to appear in a political broadcast for the Party during the 2005 British general election. On a lighter note, the programme also revealed that Archie McLeod (Derry City Football Club’s top scorer) was his grandfather, and David is now a proud member of Derry City F.C. Exiles Supporters Club.

Scottish sounds

When it comes to ear candy, David is steadfast to his Scottish roots. When quizzed about his all-time top tunes by a group of aspiring actors at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (his acting training ground), he claimed “Something by The Proclaimers” and “‘Dignity’ by Deacon Blue” as his top two choices – both bands are from his kilt-wearing homeland. Tennant is a die-hard Proclaimers fan, and in 2007 he jumped at the chance to appear in the video for the Comic Relief version of his favourite band’s 1988 hit ‘(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles’. In his student days, David also busked the streets of Glasgow as one half of a Proclaimers tribute band, once earning £65 for a one-hour stint.

Love of the stage

Despite an impressive canon of acclaimed TV roles – including the singing D.I. Carlisle in the musical drama ‘Blackpool’ (2004), the 16th century philanderer Giacomo in the three-part series ‘Casanova’ (2005) and the BAFTA-winning Time Lord in ‘Doctor Who’ (2005-2010) – David describes theatre as his "default way of being". In 2008, he rekindled his passion for treading the boards as the regal protagonist in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s staging of ‘Hamlet’. A prolapsed disc limited his run to 11 shows, but David’s Danish Prince was hailed a career-defining moment by critics and prompted the RSC to produce a film version of the production, due for release later this year.

Cancer campaigner

In 2007, David was devastated when his mother, Helen McDonald, lost her battle to cancer. “Now Mum has gone, and the world has lost a lot of its colour,” announced an emotional David, who honoured her memory by becoming a Patron of the Association for International Cancer Research. Helen was survived by David’s father, Alexander ‘Sandy’ McDonald (a retired reverend of the Church of Scotland), who made a cameo appearance as a footman alongside his son in the 2008 ‘Dr Who’ episode ‘The Unicorn and the Wasp’.