David Tennant takes to our screens for the second time this week in The Politician’s Husband and his cracking performance as vengeful ex-cabinet member reminds us that he’s fast cementing his place as one of the finest actors in British TV.
With British acting talent at perhaps an all-time high (with half of American TV being populated by British faces) Tennant has become one of the very best to have stayed on British TV, with him fighting Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Rea and Joseph Gilgun for the crown.
From a gallivanting alien armed with a sonic screwdriver to the beleaguered detective we just saw him play in Broadchurch, Tennant’s chameleonic abilities have seen him bring class and pathos to pretty much everything he touches.
Even when the show itself isn’t the best, Tennant still shines through. The BBC’s True Love series might have been hobbled by most of the dialogue being improvised; Tennant was still superb in his role Nick, a family man haunted by the return of his first love. It was a character that so easily could have been hateful, and was saved by Tennant’s emotional frailty.
Perhaps his finest moment though came in the heart-breaking ‘Single Father’ where Tennant showed off his shabbier side with incredible emotional poignancy and was utterly beguiling throughout.
Despite this though, too million he’ll always be the odd man in the even odder blue box. Eccleston laid down an impressive gauntlet as The Doctor upon the sci-fi show’s return, but Tennant completely made the part his own.
Matt Smith might have been in the role for just as long, but he’s still struggling to escape the shadow of Tennant. The scenes of his returning to the Tardis for one more time have filled Whovians around the world with levels of glee they haven’t experienced for some time.
His film career might have faltered (despite him easily being the best thing campy vampire flim Fight Night) but in a about of selfishness we really don’t mind if it means that we get to see more of Mr Tennant on our telly-boxes.
The Politician’s Husband starts on BBC One tonight.
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