Today is marked by many faiths as the beginning of Advent and once again, the BBC’s official Doctor Who website has their Advent calendar now live. Today’s treat is a video message from David Tennant and something new will be available between today and Christmas.
As a Time Lord, David Tennant has managed to meet and work with famous historical figures from across the eras. On stage, as Hamlet, though, he’s had an entirely different kind of close encounter. The BBC reports that The Royal Shakespeare Company has allowed the actor to perform the famed “Alas Poor Yorick” scene using the skull of Pianist Andrew Tchaikovsky.
When the famed musician died, he willed his skull, saying it "shall be offered by the institution receiving my body to the Royal Shakespeare Company for use in theatrical performance".
The skull came into the RSC’s possession in 1982 and actors have only used it in rehearsals before Tennant used it for 22 performances in the current run. When not on stage, the famed skull was maintained in a tissue-lined box.
"It was sort of a little shock tactic,” director Greg Doran said of using the skull. “Though, of course, to some extent that wears off and it’s just André, in his box. I thought it would topple the play and it would be all about David acting with a real skull."
In talking with What’s on Stage, actor David Morrissey gave away part of the plot for the Doctor Who Christmas Special.
“I play a character called The Doctor – a man who believes himself to be a Time Lord,” he revealed. “It was great to be on board, because I’m a huge fan of the program and of David Tennant. As for any talk of me taking over as the next Doctor, well, if or when they do choose someone, they would have to totally different to David, which I am!”
He makes his return to the stage in the European premiere of Neil LaBute’s In a Dark Dark House.
David Tennant announced his departure from Doctor Who during the National Television Awards broadcast.
The BBC’s Doctor Who website confirmed the news mintues later complete with a video from the actor.
The website went on to report:
David Tennant first appeared as The Doctor in 2005 and has gone on to star in three series and three Christmas specials as the tenth incarnation of the Time Lord. The BBC has confirmed that David will continue to play The Doctor in the four specials that will make up the 2009 series before a new Doctor takes over for Series 5. Tennant will also star in the Doctor Who Christmas Special titled The Next Doctor this year.
David Tennant comments "I’ve had the most brilliant, bewildering and life changing time working on Doctor Who. I have loved every day of it. It would be very easy to cling on to the TARDIS console forever and I fear that if I don’t take a deep breath and make the decision to move on now, then I simply never will. You would be prising the TARDIS key out of my cold dead hand. This show has been so special to me, I don’t want to outstay my welcome.
"This is all a long way off, of course. I’m not quitting, I’m back in Cardiff in January to film four special episodes which will take Doctor Who all the way through 2009. I’m still the Doctor all next year but when the time finally comes I’ll be honored to hand on the best job in the world to the next lucky git – whoever that may be.
"I’d always thought the time to leave would be in conjunction with Russell T Davies and Julie Gardner who have been such a huge part of it all for me. Steven Moffat is the most brilliant and exciting writer, the only possible successor to Russell and it was sorely tempting to be part of his amazing new plans for the show. I will be there, glued to my TV when his stories begin in 2010.
"I feel very privileged to have been part of this incredible phenomenon, and whilst I’m looking forward to new challenges I know I’ll always be very proud to be the Tenth Doctor."
Russell T. Davies Executive Producer of Doctor Who comments "I’ve been lucky and honored to work with David over the past few years – and it’s not over yet, the Tenth Doctor still has five spectacular hours left! After which, I might drop an anvil on his head. Or maybe a piano. A radioactive piano. But we’re planning the most enormous and spectacular ending, so keep watching!"
Doctor Who returns to our screens on BBC this Christmas. The Next Doctor starring David Tennant, David Morrissey and Dervla Kirwan will be screened on the 25th December on BBC1.
Let the speculation over the next incarnation of the Time Lord continue.
Russell T. Davies suggested to Britain’s Sunday Express that the current Doctor, David Tennant, may remain in the role for quite some time.
“David has brought everything to Doctor Who. I remember exactly where I was when I saw him audition for Casanova, I thought, ‘Here is someone saying the lines exactly as they are written.’ But mainly it was the sense of humor. A lot of straight men don’t handle humor well, but he can do the tragedy, too,” he told the paper.
"David may never leave; he could go on forever… I haven’t talked to him about leaving. Maybe it will never happen. Maybe he’ll be 70 and have to be taken off set."
The outgoing producer of the popular series then discussed the 2008 Christmas special and revealed, “It’s called The Next Doctor’, and there is a major plot twist at the end. We’re even thinking of not having a press screening, because we don’t think anyone will be able to keep it secret. For the first time we have two men together as leads. It’s a small focused idea, a little different.”
The Cybermen arrive to spoil a Victorian era Christmas and will guest star David Morrissey and Dervla Kirwin.
Russell T. Davies, who is handing the Doctor Who series over to Stephen Moffat, has suggested that whenever David Tennant is done being the Doctor, the role should go to Russell Tovey.
The 26-year-old Tovey was seen in the most recent Christmas special as the young crewman, Midshipman Frame, left to pilot the sinking starship Titanic. He has also been on stage and screen in Alan Bennett’s The History Boys.
The creator, who leaves the show next year as lead writer and executive producer, said he thought Tovey was "going to be huge" and is "amazing".
In excerpts leaked throughout England for the forthcoming book Doctor Who: The Writer’s Tale, Davis also floated the idea of JK Rowling appearing in a Christmas special and the author would work some sort of Doctor cameo into a Harry Potter novel. Tennant objected, feeling it was crossing a line.
"David doesn’t like the JK idea, he thinks it sounds like a spoof, so we’ve paused slightly, wondering whether to win him round or just abandon something that he’s not going to be happy with," Davies said in an e-mail excerpted in the book.
The Sun in the UK is reporting today that David Tennant’s negotiations to return for a fifth season as Doctor Who may include a guarantee that he star in the much-rumored feature film. The contract being dangled before the 37-year old actor is reported to be worth £1.5 million.
An unnamed source told the tabloid, “For ages, BBC Worldwide held the rights and were planning to make a movie, but it got held up and former BBC1 boss Lorraine Heggessey decided to bring back the TV series in 2005.
“But everyone is keen now and the fans are clamoring. Part of David’s conundrum is that he wants to do films, so this looks like it would solve both issues.”
Peter Cushing in 1965 and Paul McGann in 1996 both starred as the Doctor in previous film versions. Tennant is already committed to four specials and a Christmas story for airing in 2009.
News of the World reports that two of the four Doctor Who specials for 2010 will be shot in the United States. An unnamed BBC source was quoted a saying, “But two specials in America, with a US setting and a US assistant, will take it to another level. David Tennant is already gaining a huge following and this will make him really hot property.” No actress has been cast as the assistant.
These will mark the final four episodes from Russell T. Davies before turning the beloved franchise over to Stephen Moffat and, according to rumor, a new incarnation of the Doctor in season five.
Moffatt, meantime, is said to be at work on a feature film version of The Doctor. "It would be good to see it in the cinema so long as it is great and fantastic," he told an Edinburgh audience this weekend.
"I’m not against it … so long as it never gets in the way of the TV show. If it got in the way of the show that would be appalling."
Okay, spoiler-conscious Doctor Who
I’m serious. Don’t read any further!
Just get up, walk into the next room and quietly close the door. Someone will signal you when we’re done here.
…
Are we good to go now?
Excellent.
The BBC has confirmed that the fourth season of Doctor Who will premiere sometime during the week beginning April 5 on BBC One.
Season Four pairs David Tennant as the Doctor with a new companion in Catherine Tate, who reprises her role as "Runaway Bride" Donna Noble.
From the BBC synopsis of the season premiere, titled "Partners in Crime":
Donna Noble is determined to find the Doctor again – even if it means braving the villainous Miss Foster and her hordes of sinister Adipose, as Russell T Davies’s Bafta Award-winning time-travelling drama returns for a fourth series. But when the alien threat escalates out of control, can Donna find her Time Lord before the march of the Adipose begins?
Although the actual date/time of the premiere has not been announced, it’s widely speculated that the premiere will air on BBC One around 7 PM on Saturday, April 5.
(via OutpostGallifrey)
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