The show aired in November 11, 2007 on BBC One at 9:00 pm - opposite Daniel Radcliffe in My Boy Jack, a drama about Rudyard Kipling's son who went MIA on his first day of service in WWI over on ITV.
Daniel beat David ratings wise with an average of 5.7 million views versus 5.5 million for Learners.
Shaun's character even gets an HP related line - "Since Harry Potter, owls have gone through the roof"
Every review I read was less than favorable about the story but I did manage to find this about David from David Belcher in The Herald - November 12, 2007.
"What we surely knew already is that David Tennant is believably, commendably different in every role he undertakes. As the time-travelling oddity Doctor Who, he remains sparkily all-knowing.
In Recovery, he was a loving husband and father who, after suffering a braininjury, couldn't help becoming a pitiable domestic monster. And in Learners , he was Chris: a super-patient, nerdy, ultra-supportive Christian mouse who lived life by the good book."
A few more newspapers also had great things to say about David - even if they panned the story.
"Tennant, as always, is great - funny, understated and charming. He even tries to have a rubbish haircut and wear geek glasses to be nerdy Chris, but he's far too foxy for that." - Leicester Mercury - November 12, 2007
"She's nabbed her co-star there, David Tennant , for her first solo writing project, a canny move since Tennant currently can do no wrong with British viewers - he could probably persuade people to watch the Parliament Channel if he appeared on it and if QVC snapped him up, overnight the nation would be ordering its weight in diamonique.
"Tennant was certainly his usual appealing self as Chris, a nervy and earnest Christian; all the manic verve of his Doctor Who role buttoned down in a careful portrayal of a sweet man who just wanted to teach people to drive and to find love for himself. His romance with the driving school owner and her on-off affair with a married man threatened to take over the story, while his other hopeless pupils provided a sort of chorus of minor comic relief." - The Scotsman - November 12, 2007 - Andrea Mullaney
The Sunday Mercury - November 11, 2007 - Roz Laws - had the best quote from Jessica:
Jessica laughs: "From now on, I'm only taking roles in which I kiss David Tennant . I'm getting very choosy!"
She also got to snog him in Doctor Who.
Victoria Segal from The Times called David a space-fox in her pick of the day article.
The Sun - November 10, 2007 - had the best headline - David Tennant drives Jessica Hynes crazy!
They also mentioned the twice kissed Jessica with this quote: "The writer insisted on it," Jessica smiled . . "What a drag!"
He even gets to sing a bit - Take Your Wheel - which was really written by Jessica Hynes and sung by Mitch Benn. In the show Chris says that the song was by Paul Collinson and The Learners - in 1992 - on their 50/50 tour!
You can click here to read in Mitch's blog how the song came about - here is a quote from it:
I had to re-construct the tune based on that weird Dylan-ish bit of singing David does in the car