David Tennant springs into action in new image from Doctor Who 60th Anniversary special

David Tennant played the Tenth Doctor on Doctor Who for three seasons back in the late 2000s. The BBC managed to recruit him to reprise his role alongside his successor Matt Smith in the 50th Anniversary special. And now, a decade later, Tennant is returning once more as the Fourteenth Doctor. He might be a 10 years older, but it’s like he’s never been gone!

The three-episode 60th Anniversary special will see the Doctor reunite with his iconic companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). Their story never really got a full conclusion. When the Doctor left her last time, he explained that, “if she ever remembers me, she will die.” The potential consequences of this were never addressed…until now.

David Tennant is back in action on Doctor Who!

On Twitter/X, the official Doctor Who page recently posted a new image of David Tennant back in action:

Tennent will once again play this iconic character, but as similar as he looks, the Fourteenth Doctor isn’t the Tenth. “The Doctor’s been three different people in the meantime, so I’m not necessarily the same version of the Doctor that I was before,” Tennant told Doctor Who Magazine. “I’m not the Tenth Doctor now, I’m the Fourteenth. Well, strictly speaking we don’t know what the actual number is anymore, do we?”

This isn’t the first time someone has played two different versions of the Doctor

While many fans believe David Tennant is the only actor to have played the Doctor twice, that isn’t exactly true. The Whoniverse dates back to the 1960s and has well over 800 episodes in total. During the ‘Classic Who’ years, one actor actually managed to play two separate incarnations of the Doctor: Sylvester McCoy.

McCoy played the Seventh Doctor in the 1980s. But before he played out his main arc, he also had to don a wig and play the Sixth Doctor, played before that by Colin Baker. This is because Baker refused to film his own regeneration story, “Time and the Rani,” in 1987. So technically, McCoy played two separate incarnations of the Doctor. He’s not letting people forget this detail.

“I’m an actor who’s played two Doctors! I was the only one — but there’s another one come along, damn him! David! David [Tennant] is now playing Doctor number Ten and Fourteen. I was Six and Seven — I got there first,” McCoy told Radio Times.

The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials will air in November. Let the hype commence!

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