Doctor Who news: David Tennant, Matt Smith and Jodie Whittaker feature in virtual panel
By James Aggas
For the first time ever, David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Jodie Whittaker were recently brought together for a Doctor Who virtual panel thanks to HBO Max!
On Wednesday, HBO Max released something very special. To celebrate the streaming service launching with Series 1 to 11 of Doctor Who, a virtual panel was organized with three Doctors: David Tennant, Matt Smith, and Jodie Whittaker.
This is the first time that a panel of any sort has brought these three together, so there’s no question that it’s something special. Moderated by Terri Schwartz of IGN, some major questions were asked of all the Doctors, and we got to learn plenty about them as a result.
Questions included what their favorite episodes were; what it felt like to be the current Doctor and, in the case of Tennant and Smith, how it felt when they left the role. You can watch the entire panel yourself in the video below.
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Doctors brought together
The panel is certainly a fascinating watch. While all three Doctors are in completely separate locations, it’s definitely nice to see them all together and discuss their separate yet shared experiences of playing the role.
There are some interesting bits of information discussed, too. At one point, Tennant mentions that he wished that he got to work with Nicholas Courtney as the Tenth Doctor. This isn’t surprising, as Courtney played the truly iconic character Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. As someone who grew up with the Classic Series, Tennant would have as much affection for the character as any other fan.
He also discusses coming close to working with Courtney in The Sarah Jane Adventures, specifically in the story The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith. However, Courtney was unable to make it due to ill health at the time. While this has been known for some time, it’s fascinating to hear it from Tennant’s perspective, and it’s clear that he’s understandably disappointed that his Doctor never got to meet the Brigadier.
(Interestingly, it’s worth noting that, before he was cast as the Tenth Doctor, Tennant did work with Courtney in several audios for Big Finish, including UNIT: The Wasting and the Doctor Who Unbound audio Sympathy for the Devil, both times playing Colonel Brimmicombe-Wood.)
It’s definitely a joy to see three actors interviewed like this. Here’s hoping we get more such interviews in future, or better still, see them reunited on a Doctor Who anniversary special in 2023!
Did you enjoy HBO Max’s panel? Was there anything in particular you enjoyed learning about? Which Doctor/companion pairing would you love to see? Let us know in the comments below.