Fourteenth Doctor

The Doctor

The Fourteenth Doctor
Doctor Who character
David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor (from "The Power of the Doctor")
Introduced by	Russell T Davies
Portrayed by	David Tennant
Preceded by	Jodie Whittaker
Succeeded by	Ncuti Gatwa
Information
Companions	Donna Noble

The Fourteenth Doctor is the current incarnation of the Doctor, the fictional protagonist of the BBC science fiction television programme, Doctor Who. The Fourteenth Doctor is portrayed by Scottish actor David Tennant, who previously portrayed the Tenth Doctor and was last seen in the programme in that role in 2013.

Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a millennia-old, alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, with somewhat unknown origins, who travels in time and space in their TARDIS, frequently with companions. At the end of life, the Doctor regenerates; as a result, the physical appearance and personality of the Doctor changes.

Ncuti Gatwa had previously been announced as Jodie Whittaker's successor as the programme's lead, and many reports stated he would play the Fourteenth Doctor and that Whittaker's Thirteenth Doctor would regenerate into an incarnation portrayed by Gatwa. Upon Jodie Whittaker's final appearance as the character, she instead regenerated into a form similar to the Tenth Doctor. This character, portrayed by Tennant, was confirmed to be the Fourteenth Doctor, with later clarification that Ncuti Gatwa would actually portray the Fifteenth Doctor.

The Fourteenth Doctor is set to appear in the 60th anniversary specials in November 2023, executive produced by Russell T Davies. Catherine Tate is set to reprise her role as companion Donna Noble. Bernard Cribbins will reprise his role as Wilfred Mott, having filmed scenes before his death in 2022.

Personality

The Fourteenth Doctor speaks in the same Estuary English accent he did as the Tenth. He also uttered one of Ten's catchphrases of "What? What? What?" when he realised he'd returned to this form rather than a new one, as well as commenting on having the same teeth, a call-back to how the Tenth Doctor commented on his "new teeth" when he'd just regenerated into that form.

Appearance

The Fourteenth Doctor has the same appearance and voice as the Tenth, though slightly older, as well as a similar hairstyle. His clothes are also very similar, with a similar brown colour scheme, only with a tartan plaid design on top of the colour, and a blue overcoat rather than the brown trench coat the Tenth Doctor wore. These clothes regenerated with his appearance from the Thirteenth Doctor's rather than him choosing them like in most of his previous regenerations.

In an interview with BBC News following the announcement of his role reprisal, Tennant commented on his Doctor's appearance saying that "to a sort of casual viewer, I look like I'm sort of dressed in the same way as I used to be. But actually we've gone for something that's sort of the same but different. That has echoes of the past but it's also a bit something of the now as well."

Background

Rwandan-Scottish actor Ncuti Gatwa was announced in May 2022 as the actor who would take over from English actress Jodie Whittaker in the role following a series of special episodes throughout 2022. During the special, "The Power of the Doctor", it was revealed following Whittaker's regeneration the Doctor had regenerated into David Tennant. Tennant had previously starred in the programme as the Tenth Doctor from 2005 to 2010, and is the third actor to play two different incarnations of The Doctor in the series, after Sylvester McCoy's brief portrayal of the Sixth Doctor during his regeneration into the Seventh Doctor in Time and the Rani and Tom Baker's portrayal of The Curator in "The Day of the Doctor". The return of a previous actor as a new incarnation of the Doctor was previously proposed by Doctor Who creator Sydney Newman in a 1986 exchange with then BBC One controller Michael Grade after the dismissal of Colin Baker; Newman specifically envisioned Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Second Doctor, returning for one series before regenerating into a female incarnation.

Gatwa was confirmed to eventually be starring in the role as the Fifteenth Doctor, with executive producer Russell T Davies stating "The path to Ncuti's 15th Doctor is laden with mystery, horror, robots, puppets, danger and fun!" Catherine Tate was announced to be reprising her role as companion Donna Noble (who had worked alongside the Tenth Doctor). Davies continued his statement asking: "And how is it connected to the return of the wonderful Donna Noble? How, what, why? We're giving you a year to speculate, and then all hell lets loose!"

Tennant and Tate are set to reprise their roles in three special episodes to commemorate the programme's 60th anniversary in November 2023. Yasmin Finney is also set to make her debut as Rose.