Tenth Doctor

The Doctor

The Tenth Doctor
Doctor Who character
First regular appearance	"The Parting of the Ways"
Last regular appearance	The End of Time
Portrayed by	David Tennant
Preceded by	Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston)
Succeeded by	Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith)
Information
Tenure	2005 – 2010
No of series	3
Appearances	36 stories (47 episodes)
Companions	Long-term: Rose Tyler Mickey Smith Donna Noble Martha Jones Jack Harkness Sarah Jane Smith One-off: Astrid Peth Jackson Lake & Rosita Christina de Souza Adelaide Brooke Wilfred Mott In spin-offs: Grayla Heather McCrimmon Wolfie Ryter Majenta Pryce Emily Winter Matthew Finnegan
Chronology	Series 2 (2006) Series 3 (2007) Series 4 (2008) Specials (2008–2010)

The Tenth Doctor is the tenth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant, who appears in three series, as well as eight specials. As with previous incarnations of the Doctor, the character has also appeared in other Doctor Who multimedia.

In the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old Time Lord alien from the planet Gallifrey who travels in time in his TARDIS, frequently with companions. When the Doctor is critically injured, he can regenerate his body; in doing so, his physical appearance and personality change. Tennant portrays the tenth such incarnation. This incarnation's companions have included working class shop assistant Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), medical student Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) and fiery temp worker Donna Noble (Catherine Tate); he eventually parts ways with them all by the end of the 2008 series finale, "Journey's End", after which he attempted to travel alone for the duration of the 2008-10 specials.

Overview

Executive producer Russell T Davies revived Doctor Who after a sixteen year absence with the successful premiere of "Rose", in 2005. Following the BBC's announcement of a second series being commissioned, the story broke that Christopher Eccleston, who played the titular Ninth Doctor, would not be returning for the second series. On 16 April 2005, the BBC announced that David Tennant had been selected for the role of the Tenth Doctor. His first appearance in the series was for 20 seconds following the Ninth Doctor's regeneration at the end of "The Parting of the Ways". His first full episode as the Doctor, barring an appearance in a "mini-episode" during the 2005 Children in Need show, was the 2005 Christmas Special, "The Christmas Invasion". He then appeared in the 2006 series, the second seasonal episode, the 2007 series, the third Christmas special, and the 2008 series. Rather than a traditional series run, 2009 features a series of five specials and a series of animated shorts, all starring Tennant as the Tenth Doctor; he also guest-starred in a two-episode serial of The Sarah Jane Adventures spin-off in that year. Tennant also appears in two animated serials; The Infinite Quest is counted with the third series, and Dreamland is counted amongst the 2008-10 specials. The 'Tenth Doctor era', in this article, refers to the period of Doctor Who in which David Tennant held the role of the Doctor. It is largely the same as the "Russell T Davies era" of Doctor Who, but excludes Christopher Eccleston stories, and places more emphasis on events within the show as opposed to those behind the scenes.

Lindy A. Orthia notes, in the Journal of Commonwealth Literature, that the Tenth Doctor's "companions... are themselves drawn from a cosmopolitan vision"; despite almost all being from London, the Doctor's companions do not represent a homogeneous group. Rather, "all the Doctor’s companions are black, queer and/or working class", putting forward that "Jack, Martha and Mickey all stand in contrast to the original series companions, who were definitely all white and none of whom were openly queer." Unlike the working class companions of the classic series, "none were unskilled workers nor chronically under- or unemployed like Rose, Donna and Jackie." Within the show, the cosmopolitanism ("Multi-raciality, in combination with heightened consciousness about gender and sexual diversity") of Doctor Who, as a world embodied by the Tenth Doctor's companions, "must be defended against the threat of the enemy Cybermen, who wish to make everyone the same by removing “sex and class and colour and creed". The colour-blind multi-raciality of the Tenth Doctor era extends to Earth's past, which is represented "as a place of happy and benign diversity. Depression-era New York contains mixed-race shanty towns led by a black man, while black women populate the streets and royal courts of Victorian England and Enlightenment France" and "The 1920s, 1940s and 1950s are populated with gay men." This gains specific relevance to the companions when the Doctor assures Martha, in 1599 England in "The Shakespeare Code", that she will not be carted off as a slave; the Doctor points out to her the sheer number of black men and women walking the streets of Elizabethan England, as well as men dressed as women. However, Orthia writes, "The Doctor’s colour-blindness extends to referring to Mickey as "Mickey the idiot", irrespective of the elitist hierarchies of "smart white doctor versus stupid black estate dweller." In fact, "The Doctor's battle against evil is perpetual precisely because, like other liberals, he does not recognize the structural oppression that is everywhere around him."

The Tenth Doctor often utters "Molto bene!" ("Very good!") when he is particularly pleased. In addition, when faced with someone who has suffered a disappointment or a horrible fate, he commonly says, "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry."

Appearances

Television

The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) regenerates into the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) at the climax of the 2005 series finale, "The Parting of the Ways"; he re-introduces himself to his companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) in an untitled Children in Need mini-episode. In the Christmas special episode, he is in a comatose state for most of the episode following his regeneration. After eventually waking up, he defeats the alien Sycorax and saves Earth; in the process, he loses a hand, which regrows owing to his recent regeneration. Amongst other 2006 series adventures, the Doctor and Rose save Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins) from a werewolf, resulting in the creation of the anti-alien Torchwood Institute. The Doctor shares an adventure with two former companions, journalist Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and robot dog K-9 (John Leeson), before taking on Rose's boyfriend Mickey (Noel Clarke) as a second assistant. The series finale takes place in contemporary London, where modern-day Torchwood is the scene for war between the evil alien Daleks and parallel universe cyborgs the Cybermen; saving the Earth costs the Doctor Rose, who is stranded in a parallel universe along with Mickey and her mother, in "Doomsday".

In the closing scene of "Doomsday", a mysterious bride (Catherine Tate), miraculously appear in his TARDIS. The 2006 Christmas episode sees the Doctor and bride-to-be Donna Noble save the Earth; Donna saves the Doctor from going too far in his revenge against the alien Racnoss and declines his offer of companionship. In the 2007 series, the Doctor takes on Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) as his new companion. Together, they witness the mysterious Face of Boe (Struan Rodger) prophesy to the Doctor that "You Are Not Alone". They are rejoined by former companion Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) in a three-episode adventure where thought-deceased archenemy and fellow Time Lord the Master (John Simm) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and enslaves the Doctor for one year. Martha's plan sees the Doctor infused with the world's psychic energies, and he easily defeats the Master, who seemingly refuses to regenerate and dies in the Doctor's arms. Following this adventure, in the dénouement of series finale "Last of the Time Lords", Jack and Martha both depart the TARDIS, and the Doctor is shocked to see what appears to be the RMS Titanic crash into it. Set moments prior, another Children in Need mini-episode, "Time Crash" features a brief encounter between Tennant's Tenth Doctor and the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison), containing meta-humour surrounding Davison's Doctor having been a young David Tennant's favourite. In parallel with the third series, Tennant lends his voice to the animated serial The Infinite Quest.

The 2007 Christmas special sees the Doctor and a waitress, Astrid (Kylie Minogue) save the Earth from the impending crash of the starship Titanic; Astrid dies heroically, and the Doctor encounters Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) for the first time. In the 2008 series première episode, the Doctor is reunited with Donna Noble, Mott's granddaughter, who becomes his regular companion. In "Planet of the Ood", the alien Ood prophesy the Tenth Doctor's demise. Martha accompanies them for three episodes; in two, the Doctor battles the alien Sontarans, and last of which sees him become a father of sorts to Jenny (Georgia Moffett), in "The Doctor's Daughter". He meets archaeologist and future companion River Song (Alex Kingston) for the first time from his perspective in the two-parter "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead"; she dies, but he stores her consciousness to a hard drive to live on forever, after accepting that one day she will come to mean a lot to him. After Donna encounters Rose in an alternate timeline in "Turn Left", the Doctor realises that it must herald the end of the world. In finale episodes "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End" (which crossover with spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures), the Doctor and Donna reunite with former companions Rose, Sarah Jane, Martha, Jack and Mickey to save the universe from Davros (Julian Bleach), the creator of the Daleks. A half-human clone Doctor is created from the Doctor's earlier severed hand, and Donna is given the mind of a Time Lord; the clone Doctor enjoys a happy ending with Rose in the parallel universe, though the Doctor is forced to erase Donna's memories to save her life, leaving him alone. A Doctor Who Prom mini-episode, "Music of the Spheres" features a lone Doctor composing his musical Ode to the Universe before being interrupted by the small alien Graske (Jimmy Vee).

In lieu of a 2009 series, Tennant appears as the Tenth Doctor without a regular companion in several special episodes over the course of 2008 and 2009, the last of which airing on New Year's Day in 2010. In Christmas special "The Next Doctor", the Doctor mistakenly believes he has met a later incarnation of himself in an amnesiac Londoner (David Morrissey), with whom he saves Victorian era London. "Planet of the Dead" (Easter 2009) features jewel thief Lady Christina de Souza (Michelle Ryan) as the Doctor's one-off companion, and the Doctor is presented with a prophecy of his imminent death. Tennant makes a crossover appearance in a The Sarah Jane Adventures two-parter, The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith, in which a powerful being known as the Trickster (Paul Marc Davis) also alludes to the Tenth Doctor's impending demise. In "The Waters of Mars", the Doctor tries to alter history and avert the death of one-off companion Adelaide Brooke (Lindsay Duncan); when she commits suicide, he begins to feel his mortality weigh down upon him. In the animated serial Dreamland, the Doctor is joined by two one-off companions in 1950s Roswell, New Mexico. In the two-part send-off The End of Time, the Doctor confronts the Ood about their original prophecy and is led to contemporary Earth where the again-resurrected Master (Simm), in the second part restores Gallifrey and the Time Lords to existence, although redeems himself in assisting the Doctor defeat Time Lord Chancellor Rassilon (Timothy Dalton) and disappearing alongside the other Time Lords. The Doctor sacrifices his life to save Wilfred Mott, and while slowly succumbing to radiation poisoning visits each of his recent companions. He gives Donna a winning lottery ticket on her wedding day, saves Martha and Mickey from a Sontaran sniper, saves Sarah Jane's son Luke (Tommy Knight) from a car, introduces Jack to a romantic interest Alonso Frame (Russell Tovey), and before regenerating into the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), informs Rose circa 2005 that she is about to have a "great year". The Tenth Doctor's last words are "I don't want to go."

Spoofs

David Tennant has also makes numerous cameo appearances as the Doctor outside of Doctor Who, frequently in spoof appearances. Singer and actress Charlotte Church spoofs Doctor Who alongside an actor playing the Tenth Doctor in her own The Charlotte Church Show (2006). In an appearance on The Friday Night Project in 2007, Tennant plays female companion to the Tenth Doctor (Justin Lee Collins) on the Pink Planet where the are confronted by the alien Gay Lord (Alan Carr). When the show became The Sunday Night Project, Catherine Tate appeared in a skit playing the Tenth Doctor. Tennant starred opposite Catherine Tate in her own The Catherine Tate Show special (2007) as Lauren Cooper's (Tate) teacher Mr Logan, who, Cooper teases for his resemblance to the Doctor; eventually, he reveals himself to be the Tenth Doctor and shrinks Cooper into a 5" Rose Tyler action figure. In the final episode of Extras (December 2007), a brief scene shows the Doctor and an unidentified Wren companion attacked by Schlong, a slug-like alien played by Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais). The Tenth Doctor is also featured in political satire; in a 2007 episode of Dead Ringers, when faced by the question of Gordon Brown's succession, Tony Blair (impressionist John Culshaw) regenerates into David Tennant after promising "New Labour is all about renewal", later vowing 100 more years of power. Tennant modifies his first line in "The Parting of the Ways" ("New teeth, that's weird"), to "New Labour, that's weird" and proceeds to address the public in a Tony Blair impression resembling Culshaw's.

Literature

As the face of the Doctor Who franchise for 2005-10, the Tenth Doctor appears extensively in Doctor Who spin-off media; in the majority of these series, the character simply takes after the place of the Ninth Doctor, and in turn is replaced by the Eleventh following the debut of the 2010 series. Novels featuring the Tenth Doctor are all published by BBC Books. The character appears in New Series Adventures novels spanning from The Resurrection Casket (April 2006) to The Krillitane Storm (September 2009). A number Decide Your Destiny novels were published between July 2007 and March 2008, as well as five books published as a part of Quick Reads Initiative, a government-sponsored adult literacy project. BBC Children's Books released their own 10-part series, The Darksmith Legacy, supported by an interactive tie-in website. Additionally, short stories are frequently published in Doctor Who Magazine, The Doctor Who Storybook series (2007-10 editions), the BBC website, and annuals and suchlike; one example being the story "The Lodger" by Gareth Roberts, later adapted into an Eleventh Doctor television episode of the same name. National newspapers The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times have each published one Christmas-themed Tenth Doctor short story. Additionally, the Tenth Doctor appears in a novelisation of his The Sarah Jane Adventures crossover appearance. The Tenth Doctor also appears extensively in comic books, replacing the Ninth Doctor in those published in Doctor Who Magazine, and the younger-audience Doctor Who Adventures and Doctor Who: Battles in Time. American comic book publisher initially published a 2008 Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones miniseries between January and June 2006. This was later followed by a truly ongoing Tenth Doctor series in July 2009, set during the 2008-10 specials and lasting sixteen issues before relaunching with the Eleventh Doctor. In stories set after "Journey's End", the Doctor is accompanied by numerous one-off and recurring companions who do not feature in the television series.

Outside of Doctor Who literature, penciller Georges Jeanty includes a cameo of the Tenth Doctor and Rose in a panel of Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight story arc "No Future for You". The Tenth Doctor was utilised in the American satirical political cartoon strip, This Modern World. Arriving in 2003, the Doctor hints to Sparky the Wonder Penguin (the strip's main character) that in five years' time, the next President could be a black man, with the middle name Hussein, whose father was a Muslim, referring to the popularity of Senator Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election. The character also appeared in a story arc of the webcomic PvP, in which character Brent Sienna hallucinates materialising in the TARDIS.

Audio drama

As is the case with the BBC Books novels, the Tenth Doctor replaced the Ninth as the face of the Doctor Who audiobook series, beginning with Pest Control in May 2008 and ending with Dead Air in March 2010. The majority are read by David Tennant, save one read by Michelle Ryan and two by Catherine Tate. A number of Tenth Doctor novels were also abridged to become audiobooks, again featuring David Tennant's voice alongside other cast members such as Freema Agyeman and television series guest stars such as Georgia Moffet, Reggie Yates and Anthony Head; the last of these scheduled is Judgement of the Judoon, for December 2010 .

Games

The Top Trumps card game series features a Doctor Who line which includes the Tenth Doctor. This was later adapted into a Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Windows and Playstation 2 video game , Top Trumps: Doctor Who.

Reception

The Tenth Doctor has been very popular amongst the Doctor Who fandom. In 2006, readers of Doctor Who Magazine voted Tennant's Doctor "Best Doctor" over perennial favourite Tom Baker. He also won the National Television Awards award for Most Popular Actor in 2006 and 2007, and the award for Outstanding Drama Performance in 2008 and 2010.

External links

• Tenth Doctor on Tardis Wiki, the Doctor Who Wiki
• The Tenth Doctor on the BBC's Doctor Who website
• David Tennant's Site
• Doctor Who series two press launch report and audio interviews at BBC Wiltshire
• Tenth Doctor's Theme Music Quicktime file