June 30, 2012

This weeks theme will be awards and David has won many.  Here he is holding his 2006 awards from Doctor Who Magazine Reader's survey Award for Best Actor Ever to Play the Doctor.


June 29, 2012

On December 21, 2008 David appeared on Paddy O'Connell's Sunday Radio 4 programme Broadcast House.  He was awarded Cultural Figure of the Year and given a honey spoon which is the same prize they give out each week to the winner of the really complicated news quiz.  When it was handed to him it was in a padded envelope and David asked him on air if he could open it!

June 28, 2012

Today I though you might like to see David's entry in Who's Who for 2012:

June 27, 2012

In the March 28, 2006 issue of The Times Paul Hoggart wrote an article about the filming of The Chatterley Affair and his father's part in the trial.  His father was Richard Hoggart, who testified in the obscenity trial about the book, when he was Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Leicester.

"I might have stepped out of the TARDIS.  Arriving at a disused law court in Kingston, southwest London I came face to face with Doctor Who - dressed as my Dad!  My Dad in 1960.  When he I was 8!  The Doctor (aka David Tennant) was in a small crowd of actors playing lawyers and members of the public, all in perfectly reproduced 1950's attire.  Using archive videos, he had been practising my father's accent and intonition, and captured them rather well.  He was wearing long Teddy-boy sideburns (part of his Doctor Who getup), which my father never had.  Even so, it was all rather spooky."

David was only filming that day and then he had to go strait back to filming Doctor Who in Wales so if he had shaved his sideburns he would not have had time for them to grow back!



June 26, 2012


On the Internet Movie Database (IMDB) people can vote for their favorite films and TV shows, here are David's top twenty Doctor Who episodes as they rank in popularity.

3,706 - Blink 
1,993 - The Girl in the Fireplace 
1,553 - Doomsday
1,425 - The Family of Blood
1,379 - Last of the Time Lords
1,369 - Love & Monsters
1,340 - Journey's End 
1,286 - Voyage of the Damned
1,265 - Human Nature
1,264 - Silence in the Library 
1,235 - Midnight 
1,221 - Forest of the Dead 
1,202 - School Reunion 
1,191 - The Impossible Planet
1,185 - The Satan Pit 
1,173 - The Runaway Bride 
1,169 - The Sound of Drums
1,168 - Utopia
1,147 - The Shakespeare Code
1,121 - Gridlock 

June 25, 2012

The Newstatesman is a British political and cultural magazine published weekly in London since 1913.  Each week there is a small quiz this was one of the questions in the February 21, 2011 issue was:

What's the connection?

b) Lord Reith, Gordon Brown,
David Tennant, John Buchan

The answer: All Scottish "sons of the manse"

June 24, 2012

In December of 2011 American broadcast journalist Charlie Rose interviewed Michael Boyd about his time at the RSC as director.  Rose has his own show on PBS radio America's national public radio as well as being one of the current hosts of the CBS morning show.

Charlie showed Michael three different Hamlet's playing the scene with the ghost and asked him to comment.

Here is what Michael had to say about David's Hamlet:

"But it`s lovely -- it`s lovely seeing a bit of David Tennant`s "Hamlet" again. 

CHARLIE ROSE: You liked it?
 
MICHAEL BOYD: Yes very much. Very -- I`ve never seen a sharper-minded Hamlet. You could almost feel his mind cutting the air as he -- as he dissected people and as he tried to cut his way towards the truth and then to action. "

 

June 23, 2012

BBC Radio One had a programme called Switch which was aimed at the teenage market and it ran from 2007-2010.  During the run celebrities were asked to create badges for the website that you could download.  Here are the two that David designed.
 

June 22, 2012

Russell isn't the only friend of David to draw him for charity.  Oliver Ford Davies, who played Polonius in Hamlet, drew David in 2009 for National Doodle Day to benefit epilepsy.  Maybe it's a Davies thing!



June 21, 2012

Russell T Davies also did a drawing for the 2010 Willow Foundation auction of David!

June 20, 2012

It's true that many, many fans draw David as a tribute to him but David has also drawn a few items for charity.  If you saw him on Derren Brown's Trick or Treat you know that David might not be able to fall back on a career in art if he gives up acting!  Here are a few examples of his very cute doodles however I am a bit concerned that one of the world's biggest Doctor Who fans thinks that the TARDIS has more squares on the right then the left!!!!

This the doodle of himself he drew for the Headway Essex charity.
  This is the very sweet mug of tea he drew for the Willow Foundation's 2010 doodle sale.
 And finally the lopsided TARDIS!
 Whoever had this originally sold it through Paul Fraser collectibles.

June 19, 2012

As we saw yesterday LOL's are just one way that fans express themselves, I also posted pictures of David tattoos people had done.  It is no secret that creativity and fandom go hand in hand but David Tennant fans all seem to know how to knit!  There have been so many amazingly cute knitted and stuffed dolls posted out there, here are some of my favourites!





















  

June 18, 2012

LOL's LOL's LOL's everywhere you look on Facebook ROLFRAZZI, IIZCHEEZBURGER, Tumblr - etc.  David Tennant has certainly been the subject of thousands but this image seems to be a fan favourite!

You can click here an see 274 different ones!

Here are some of my favourite LOL's with other photos from ROLFRAZZI:












June 17, 2012

There are lots of universe's of fandom out there including one for My Little Pony!  There are thousands of adult fans of this genre that have websites and fan fiction and fan videos etc.  Inside the My Little Pony world are a group of what they call background ponies with an hourglass for a cutie mark.  A cutie mark is the symbol on the rear quarters of the pony that links to their power or personality.

There is one brown pony who looks like the tenth Doctor that has been nicknamed Doctor Whooves!

He has a huge following!  Here is a cool Doctor Who fan video about him and his picture and a link to a list of all the hourglass ponies and who in Who fandom they might represent.



June 16, 2012

Here is another great cartoon of David as Jack Absolute from The Rivals - The Times - January 1, 2001


June 15, 2012

On December 23 2005 Penny Wark wrote a lovely piece in The Times about David, called Who Isn't Watching Him?, that was accompanied by this beautiful drawing of David.

In the article she states that at 17 he became the youngest student at the RSAMD.  This certainly ruffled feathers as this letter to the editor appeared in The Times a few days later.


I think she meant to say the youngest person at the RSAMD at the time.

The article did have some wonderful things to say about David that certainly are undeniably true! (well at least by me)

"David Tennant has a motif, it is his lightness of touch, even when playing dark roles. As he recognises, his appeal lies in words and wit, and certainly not in conventional leading-man looks. Though if he lacks bulk he certainly ripples with energy, and that will never be more apt than when he becomes the tenth Doctor Who on Christmas Day."

This quote is particularly timely if you come this statement to the recent article in the Radio Times:

"Interviewers have so far done little to penetrate his boyish exterior, partly because underneath it is a serious soul, and partly because however much celebrity culture would like to grasp the new Doctor Who to its lovely bosom, the new Doctor Who recognises its vacuous and destructive game for what it is and has no intention of engaging."

This was the closing line of the article:

"Rather he is a damned good actor, whose fine work comes from the right blend of talent and unswerving determination."
 

June 14, 2012

David may not have broken any records in the US newspapers YET, but he certainly has had his name in print around the Commonwealth. In the Australian press alone his name pops up nearly 800 times since 2000.

June 13, 2012

UK newspapers don't have an exclusive on reporting about David he has been reviewed by many noted US publications as well.

Variety - America's leading showbiz publication has reviewed David's work starting in 1998's Real Inspector Hound, but his name appeared in Variety for the first time in a 1995 review of What the Butler Saw.

It took a while for The Hollywood Reporter to catch up but David's name has been in stories there since 2005 including a great review of Einstein and Eddington.

David's name can also be found in many prodigious US newspapers as well.

His first appearance in USA Today was in a 2004 article about London theatre not only was his Pillowman performance mentioned but his picture was part of the article as well, since then he has been in 33 other times.

David's name hit the New York Times in 1999 in an article about Love in the 21st Century and 61 times since.

The Last September was the reason David's name first popped up in The LA Times for the first time in 2000 and then 36 times more.


June 12, 2012

Needless to say David was everywhere in December of 2009 as his final episode of Doctor Who was about to air not that fans were complaining!  Here is a breakdown of how many times his name appeared in the UK press that month.

    The Sun - 74
    The Sunday Times - 43
    The Guardian - 42
    The  Times - 38
    The Daily Record / Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland) - 34
    News of the World - 34
    The Daily Mirror / The Sunday Mirror - 25
    The    Independent, The/The Independent on Sunday - 20
    Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales) - 19
    Daily Mail, The/The Mail on Sunday  (19)
    South Wales Echo/Wales on Sunday (Cardiff, Wales) - 15
    The Observer - 14
    The Scotsman /Scotland on Sunday - 13
    Belfast Telegraph - 12
    The Express /The Express on Sunday - 11
    Daily Post (Liverpool, England - 11
    The Herald /The Sunday Herald (Glasgow, Scotland) - 10
    Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, England) - 8
    Coventry Telegraph - 7
    The Daily Telegraph /The Sunday Telegraph - 7
    Liverpool Echo - 6
    The Birmingham Post - 5
    Nottingham Post - 5
    Bristol Evening Post - 5
    Western Daily Press (Bristol, England) - 4
    The Evening Standard - 4
    The Northern Echo (Darlington, England) - 3
    Western Morning News (Plymouth, England) -3
    Evening Times (Glasgow, Scotland) - 3
    Edinburgh Evening News - 3
    Aberdeen Press & Journal  - 2
    Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland) -2
    Campaign  -2
    Financial Times -2
    Yorkshire Evening Post -2
    Hull Daily Mail  -2
    The People - 2
 The rest all have one:
     South Wales Argus (Newport, Wales)
     The News (Portsmouth, England)
    Manchester Evening News 
    The Gazette (Blackpool, England)
    Lancashire Telegraph (Blackburn, England)

June 11, 2012

Yesterday The Mail, today The Sun!  Here are some of the better headlines concerning David in 2005.

Top of the Docs - December 26 - About the Xmas episode
Now He's the Love Doctor - December 13 - About the fact that the Doctor and Rose were going to kiss
Dr McWho - December 13 - About David using his accent in Tooth and Claw
Jealous-Who Me? - December 12 - About Secret Smile
Doctor-do-litte - December 10 - About the plot of the Xmas episode
What's Up Doc? - November 4 - From a photo of David and Billie filming
Doctor What? - October 20 - A photo of David as Davina
It's You Know Who - July 28 - About the first pics of David as The Doctor
Who's Coming for Christmas? - July 26 - Announcing the Xmas special
Who's a psycho - June 2 - About Secret Smile
Doctor Woo - March 31 - About Casanova star to be new Doctor

This last one must have really angered the BBC since their official press release to confirm David as The Doctor was issued on April 16th!!!!

June 10, 2012

David's name is in the press quite a bit and this week I thought I would post paper by paper just how much!

Today, The Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday:

2000 - Once - a review of The Last September - mention only as a member of the cast
2001 - Once - a review of People Like Us - mention only as a member of the cast
2002 - Three - reviews of Lobby Hero - one critique of his performance and the other two mention only his role
2003 - Two - reviews of Pillowman - mention only his role, but one does state, 'by the outstanding David Tennant'
2004 - Thirteen- one for being #78 of the Hot 100 Scottish stars!, seven in relation to Blackpool listings, reviews or picks of the day, one article called 'Moderator's actor son is to play... Casanova', one about Casanova which mentions only his role, three for He Knew He Was Right - one critique of his performance and two mentions only of his role
2005 - Thirty-eight - one in a round up of the good and bad of 2005 - 'Last year, it was David Who? This year it's unmissably Dr Who.' , ten mentions only for role one of which was in ratings article about Xmas shows and another a list of shows to watch at Xmas, once in an article about Top Geer stating his resemblance to Richard Hammond(ED. really????), one shot blurb called 'Dr Who pledge', which has a quote from the Jonathan Ross show about doing a second season, two mentions for role only in listings for Secret Smile, one in a longer article about Secret Smile that had this great line: ...'providing Tennant with the opportunity of unleashing a silent snarl - one of the most malevolent expressions I've ever encountered, except perhaps on the face of a pantomime villain.',one in Pick of the Day for Secret Smile - 'Tennant's superbly creepy turn as the unhinged Brendan shows his versatility - worth bearing in mind as he prepares to make his debut as the new Doctor Who.', one article about David topping Broadcast Magazines Hot 100 list, two mentions for role only in articles about HPGOF, one mention of him as the new Doctor in an article about Liverpool football??!! - , a mention of him as the new Doctor being geek cool, another mention of him as a look a like  - this time being compare to Tom Ward from Silent Witness, mentioned as a co-star in an article about Laura Fraiser, an article called 'Who's that going out with Billie?', which was a pap article about them being seen going out with Stephen Fry and her then boyfriend Amadu Sowe after the first full day of filming, he is mentioned in an article called 'Who's the biggest Who?; which discussed the heavy topic of the height of all the past Doctor's!, he is mentioned only for the role in an article in which two professors discuss why time travel isn't possible?!(ED> gotta love The Mail), two mentions for role only in an article about Dixon of Dock Green, mentioned for role for Casanova in a list of DVD's now out for sale, mentioned in article about Hell's Kitchen - he went to one of the shows as a diner, a mention of his role in Scream of the Shalka, a small article called 'Cut-price deal put Tennant in the Tardis' stating that David would make only half of Christopher's salary, mentioned by role only in four small blurbs about Casanova, and one mention of his appearance as Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger in an article about a year of classic theatre.

I won't break down the rest of the years as you can imagine the numbers are HUGE!

2006 - 46, 2007 - 47, 2008 - 91, 2009 - 119, 2010 - 172, 2011 - 167, 2012 - so far - 96

June 9, 2012

Long before Brian Hitch started drawing David for Jonathan Ross's comic he was a cartoon in The Times!

I discovered this gem of David as Romeo in the January 19, 2001 issue accompanying a review of the RSC's production of Romeo and Juliet at The Barbican.

Anyone who has seen photo's of that production can easily recognise Tom Piper's curving ramparts!


June 8, 2010

In 2010 The Denver Post took a nationwide poll of theatre experts and theatre students to compile a list of the ten most important American plays.

David has been in three of the ten, Long Days Journey Into Night, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and The Glass Menagerie.

Not bad for a British institution!

June 7, 2012

Shakespeare has always been near and dear to David's heart and he certainly has played many many of the Bard's best characters. In an interview with Whats On Stage published on November 17, 2003, he was asked what roles he'd still like to play.

"Starting with Shakespeare, there are a load: Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Berowne in Love's Labour's Lost, Angelo in Measure for Measure, Richard II. I tried to persuade Michael Boyd to let me do Hamlet, but he'd already gone and signed up Toby Stephens!"

So nine years on he's three for five! Here is a list of all his Shakespeare roles so far:

1990 - Oberon: Midsummer Night's Dream, "Teatro E Scuole Di Teatro" Festival in Polermo, Sicily.

1990 - Prospero: The Tempest, "Teatro E Scuole Di Teatro" Festival in Polermo, Sicily.
1996 - Touchstone: As You Like It, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford and 1996/97 at The Barbican, London (RSC)
1997 - Angelo:Measure For Measure, as part of BBC 2's Conjuring Shakespeare
1998 - Antipholus of Syracuse: Comedy of Errors, Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Audio Series
1998 - The Porter: Macbeth, Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Audio Series
1998 - Lancelot Gobo: The Merchant of Venice, Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Audio Series
1998 - The Archbishop/Ghost of Henry VI: Richard III, Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Audio Series
1998 - Mercutio: Romeo & Juliet, Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Audio Series
1998 - Dramatic reading of Sonnet 38 on Classic FM's collection called Classic Romance
1999 - Henry VI Part I, II and III: Henry VI, Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Audio Series
1999 - Edgar: King Lear, Arkangel Complete Shakespeare Audio Series
1999 - Edgar: King Lear, The Royal Exchange, Manchster
2000 - Antipholus of Syracuse: Comedy of Errors, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, The Theatre Royal, Newcastle and 2000/01 at The Barbican, London (RSC)
2000 - Romeo: Romeo and Juliet, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, The Theatre Royal, Newcastle and 2000/01 at The Barbican, London (RSC)
2001 - Lysander/Flute: Midsummer Night's Dream(staged reading), The Barbican, London (RSC)
2001 - Bendick: Much Ado About Nothing, BBC Radio Three
2008 - Hamlet: Hamlet, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford and 2008/09 at the Novello Theatre in London (RSC)

2008 - Berowne: Love's Labour's Lost, Courtyard Theatre, Stratford (RSC)
2009 - Reading of Sonnets 2, 7,9,11,14,17,18 and 154 on the audio CD From Shakespeare With Love
2009 - Hamlet:Hamlet, BBC One
2011 - Benedick: Much Ado About Nothing, Wyndham Theatre London
2012 - Malvolio: Twelfth Night BBC Radio Three
2012 - Prince Escalus: Romeo and Juliet BBC Radio Three
  

June 5, 2012

A quickie today . . . 

Back in 2007 David appeared on the UK talk show Parkinson and gave fangirls everywhere a much repeated quote!  My Face on your crotch!!

He was referring to seeing his face on underpants and here they are!

The story starts around 3:13.

June 4, 2012

There has been great news recently of David playing a detective again.  Back in 2004 there was lots of buzz about the new BBC series Blackpool.  It was nominated for a Golden Globe award in the US and won a coveted Peabody Award.

One month before it's October  premiere The Guardian said it would be the most talked about drama of the Autumn season.

"The new drama series on BBC1, Blackpool , about the Las Vegas of the north, is chuffing brilliant.  But after watching the first episode it's obvious there's nothing run-ofthe-mill about this programme....But what makes the show so entertaining is that the whole thing is anchored in a witty, unpretentious script by Peter Bowker. It's helped along by a strong cast, including Sarah Parish, David Tennant and John Thomson, who, along with Morrissey, all give outstanding performances....It's a clever, imaginative attempt to breathe new life into a shop-worn genre, and it deserves to be a huge ratings success." Taken from The Mail on Sunday - October 10, 2004 - Toby Young

All that is true but how great is this description of David's character!

"On top of which, oddball policeman, is not only closing in on Ripley, but he is regularly playing "find the truncheon" with the arcade-owner's wife."

And a little extra for today -DI Carlisle as the seven dwarfs!