April 12, 2012

One of the qualities I admire most in David is his modesty:

"I ask if it has been a simple matter for him to transfer his impish charms to the character of the Doctor. Tennant laughs so abruptly that he appears to spray biscuit crumbs through his nose.

'My what?'

Impish charms.

'Ah, bless you for saying that.' He shakes his head indulgently, as if the notion is self-evidently ridiculous. 'I know that in Casanova Russell wrote a lot of that stuff where the character's thoughts change very quickly, so you're still finishing off one thought as you catch up with the next, and he's written the Doctor in the same way, which is great to play because you get to be the guy with all the best lines and the wit, and it really has to be played at a lick. I think that's very attractive to watch in a character, when they're plucking all these extraordinary thoughts down and you have to race to catch up, kind of like The West Wing. Russell's a lot like that himself.'"

The Observer - December 11, 2005 - Stephanie Merritt