David Tennant to front documentary on classic era of ‘Doctor Who’ to mark show’s 60th birthday

20 October 2023

David Tennant is fronting a documentary delving into the classic ‘Doctor Who’ era ahead of the sci-fi show’s 60th birthday.

David Tennant is fronting a documentary delving into the classic ‘Doctor Who’ era ahead of the sci-fi show’s 60th birthday

The actor, 52, who played the Tenth Doctor and is returning as the Fourteenth Doctor for the upcoming 60th anniversary specials, will present BBC4’s hour-long ‘Talking Doctor Who’.

It will see him travel back through the BBC archives to tell the story of vintage ‘Doctor Who’ shows, with a blurb for the documentary saying: “On the way, David compares some of his own experiences with the actors who came before him and shares special archive moments that reveal, amongst other things, how to film a regeneration, which actor was a master of modern gadgetry – including a collapsible caravan – and what the factors were that helped to decide how a Doctor selects his own individual and distinctive costume.”

The documentary, set to air on 1 November, will include archive interviews from past Doctors including the late William Hartnell, who played the First Time Lord and died aged 67 in 1975 after a series of strokes.

It will also feature Sylvester McCoy, 80, the Seventh TARDIS adventurer.

Most of the classic series of ‘Doctor Who’ will be coming to BBC iPlayer for the first time in celebration of the show’s 60th anniversary, with more than 800 episodes set to be available on iPlayer from the day David’s documentary airs.

But the BBC recently confirmed due to a rights issue the back catalogue won’t include the first story ‘An Unearthly Child’.

A spokesperson for the corporation said: “This massive iPlayer back catalogue will be home to over 800 hours of Doctor Who content, making it the biggest ever collection of Doctor Who programming in one place but will not include the first four episodes as we do not have all the rights to those.”

Returning showrunner Russell T Davies, 60, had previously said: “I’d like to thank the BBC for all the hard work to get this massive back catalogue under one roof, at long last.

“I’m so excited for new viewers – imagine being eight years old, spending winter afternoons exploring the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and beyond.

“And we’re determined this won't be a dusty museum – we have exciting plans to bring the back catalogue to life, with much more to be revealed!”