David Tennant has recalled the pressures of his time as Doctor Who.
In a recent interview with Variety, the 52-year-old star admitted that while it was “wonderful” to play the Time Lord, the role could also be “overwhelming and terrifying”.
“The thing about this is, it’s not the job. It’s the other stuff that comes with it, that I didn’t see coming,” the actor confessed. “Doctor Who is on a slightly different level. It’s cross-generational, international and has so much history, it feels like it belongs to everyone.”
Tennant continued, “To be at the centre of the show is wonderful and humbling, but also a bit overwhelming and terrifying. It doesn’t come without some difficulties, such as the immediate loss of anonymity. It takes a bit of getting used to if that’s not been your life up to that point.”
The Good Omens star credited his Doctor Who co-star, Billie Piper, 40, with helping him to cope with the limelight.
“She’d lived in a glare of publicity since she was 14, so she was a great guide for how to live under that kind of scrutiny. I owe a degree of sanity to Billie,” he shared.
Tennant also praised the new incoming Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, labelling the 30-year-old Sex Education actor a “force of nature”.
“I’ve caught a little bit of him at work and it’s pretty exciting,” Tennant added.
The Scottish star, who originally played the Doctor between 2005 and 2010, is set to return as the character in November with three special episodes to coincide with the show’s 60th anniversary, before handing over to Gatwa.
