The 2009 Doctor Who Special episodes were all released in a 5 DVD disc set in January of 2010 and in the US in February 2010. The Complete Specials not only included great DVD extras such as David's video diaries and footage from his appearance at 2009 Comic Con, but we were also treated to a wonderful foreward written by David in the DVD booklet.
In a suburban house in Paisley a wee boy was sticky-taping the leg of
his oft-snapped spectacles back together. He couldn’t remember a time
when they hadn’t been augmented with at least one area of peeling
sellotape. Suddenly and quite without warning there was a rupture in the
fabric of space and time and a tall, skinny man tumbled through a
wormhole in the middle of the living room and landed in a puddle of
brown coat at the boy’s feet.
“Who are you?” asked the boy. Confused and a little scared, but mostly loving it.
“Oh - oh, hello. It’s you! I’m you… you’re… me.”
“Eh?” the boy asked. (Try as she might the boy’s mother could not get him to say “pardon”.)
“I’m you. In your future. I’m thirty-eight years old.”
Because he was eight the boy accepted this quite quickly. “Is that my coat then? Can I try it on?”
“No, no, no - ” interrupted the skinny man, slightly disappointed his
time-travelling was being greeted with so little wonderment. “This is
my costume. These clothes are The Doctor’s. In thirty years’ time you
get to play The Doctor. What do you think of that?!”
“Tom Baker leaves!” the boy boggled.
“Well… yes, eventually - “
“And then I take over?”
“Not quite, no, there’s a bit of time in between but…”
“And that’s what The Doctor wears?”
“Yes. Yes it is.”
The boy took a moment to give this his full attention. “I prefer the scarf.”
The skinny man looked a little crushed. “But this is really cool.
People write about this outfit in newspapers and style magazines. This
is geek chic!… But actually you’re right; people never really get over
the scarf.”
“Are the monsters good?” the boy asked.
“Oh there are some great ones. And you get to fight the Daleks, and the Cybermen - “
” - and the Zygons?!!”
“Erm, no, no not the Zygons. But loads of other ones that you’ll love. And guess what… Sarah comes back! And K-9!”
“K-9 leaves too!!” the boy groaned.
“Well, yes but he comes back - with you. And there are loads of great
companions. Some of them aren’t even born yet - but they’re just
brilliant! And you won’t believe this, but you know Bernard Cribbins
from ‘The Wombles’?”
” - and ‘Jackanory’ - “
” - and ‘Jackanory’, yes. Well he’s in it too. You get to do all sorts of scenes with him.”
“That’s amazing!”
“It is.”
“Why do I have to wait so long?” asked the boy.
“Eh? I mean, pardon?”
“You’re really old.”
“I don’t think - well - not so - it’s all relative.” The skinny man protested.
“And how come your hair’s all dark?” the wee boy asked.
“That just happens… round about twelve I think.” The skinny man
regarded his younger self. “Look there’s quite a bit of stuff to get
through first but hang in there. It’s worth it. I promise. I can’t tell
you how much you’ll love it.”
“Really? Do I really get to be The Doctor?”
“You do. And listen - you are going to have: the best time of your life.”
And with that the skinny man disappeared in a swirl of pulsing
temporal vortex. The wee boy held his damaged glasses in front of his
face as the wormhole blinked out of existence. That was unexpected, he
thought. And pretty unlikely. Then he turned his attention back to the
sellotape and the glasses. “The Creature From the Pit” Part Two was on
later. He needed to be ready.
David John McDonald, 3rd November 1979/2009
Players of Shakespeare 4: Further Essays in Shakespearean Performance by Players with the Royal Shakespeare Company: Further Essays in Shakespearean ... with the Royal Shakespeare Company Vol 4 and 5. Not exactly a title that trips off the tongue, this series of books featured essays about the characters that they have played in various RSC productions.
David had two essays in this series, in volume 4 he wrote an essay about bein Touchstone in As You Like It his first role with the RSC and in volume 5 his essay was on being Romeo. The essay's feature black & white photos of David from both of the productions.
Here is an excerpt from the Touchstone essay:
Dads: A Celebration Of Fatherhood From Britain's Finest And Funniest, published on May 29, 2008. This collection of celebrity stories about what it's like to be a Dad and reminiscences about their own fathers was edited by Sarah Brown, the former Prime Minister's wife and Gil McNeil. Gordon Brown even wrote the introduction and Sarah Browm wrote the forward. All royalties from the sale of the book go to her charity Piggy Bank Kids, which funds the Jennifer Brown Research Laboratory which is taking steps towards the next breakthroughs
for pregnancy care, ensuring premature little ones have the safest and
healthiest start in life. The charity also supports community work around Britain and fund projects which support
some of our most vulnerable babies, children and young people, helping
to give them the best start in life.
David's chapter was quoted in some of the newspapers, the longest excerpt came from The daily Mail, May 1, 2008:
"When you're a child you blithely assume that your dad knows everything. Now, aged 37, I have to admit that mine probably does.
I don't mean he could rattle off the kings of England in order, or work out the quantity of dark matter in the universe on the back of a napkin (although he'd probably give it a good go); it's the dad stuff he's good at.
Problem with the car? Confusion over the house insurance? Need to put a shelf up? Even how do you blanch broccoli? I'll call my dad.
He'll always have an answer, or at least know where to find one. (Anything involving gadgets, for instance, gets outsourced to his mate John, who lives nearby in a house full of self-soldered circuit boards and half-built computers.)
But it worries me. I'll be 40 in a few years: shouldn't I already know how to tile a bathroom wall?
Where does Dad get all this knowledge from? Is it instinct? Was he born knowing how to replace a fanbelt? Did he rely on his father for all these life skills? Were they passed down like an Olympic torch, practicality burning down the generations?
Trouble is, I think I'm in danger of dropping it. In years to come, when my kids phone me up to ask how to reignite their boiler, I'll have to put them on to Granddad.
I know it's not just me - my brother and sister are the same. Luckily, despite being 70 and with one false hip, my dad is still the most energetic, indefatigable man you're ever likely to meet.
Thank goodness for that. You've got years of cutting down trees and fixing curtain rails ahead of you, Dad. No peaceful retirement for you, I'm afraid. We'd be neck-deep in chaos without you."
"To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, its 30 articles have been simplified
and drawn by 29 internationally renowned illustrators, with royalties going to
Amnesty
. It is shocking to be reminded how few of the declaration's clauses are practised - including "Nobody has any right
to hurt us or to torture us", and "We all have the right to a home." The text is clearly valuable as a set of ideals for life
(and rules for the playground); the pictures are inventive rather than literal. They vary in tone - from comic to serious,
childlike to sophisticated, fantastical to realistic - and use media ranging from collage to screen prints. The South African
Niki Daly depicts a statue of Nelson Mandela in a freedom park; Jane Ray's damaged rag doll illustrates torture; Polly Dunbar
comes down to a child's level to communicate the idea of being innocent until proven guilty; and Alan Lee shows paper planes
carrying messages caught on the barbed wire of a wall to provoke thought about our freedom to travel. Meanwhile, David Tennant's
introduction suggests, appealingly, that, although Dr Who is 903 and not human, he probably has the declaration pinned up
in the Tardis." - The Sunday Times - November 9, 2008
- Nicolette Jones
Yesterday I posted some pictures of David in drag but did you know that David gave workshops in the art of gender swap in Shakespeare! He was a guest artist at the London Shakespeare Workout. Their motto - Where You Can Work to Make Your Dreams Come True.
The idea for the group originated in New York, actors can work on their Shakespeare while socialising with other actors and slotting in a little useful networking, The Workout costs just £2 for professional actors/waged and £1 for professional acting students.
"Weekly encouragement has substantially benefited many professionals currently young in their careers, as well as those who may find themselves 'coming back', in a lull, or just lusting to experiment and keep their trademarked tools sharp. Supportive applause and energetic commitment have been the order of the Sundays."
The above text is taking about the Sunday workshops, one of which David ran with Luke Dixon.
Gender Bender Sundays:- (where men do the women and women do the men, so to speak). LSW has had three thrilling sessions in this regard with both the RSC/Domar/Almeida Veteran, David Tennant and the Artistic Director of the Soho Group*, Luke Dixon - The Art Room 152 Arlington Rd Camden 1:30 - 5
When describing David as a guest: "Luke Dixon and the enticing David Tennant on gender bending in Shakespeare"
*The Soho Group later became Theatre Nomad
In 2011 David visited Kamuli in Eastern Uganda to see the work that Sightsavers have been doing and to help raise money for this humanitarian effort. His appeal was so emotional the phones exploded, the press even compares his appeal to those of Bob Geldof during Live Aid!
The films were made by Pearl Works Productions and according to their Facebook page David was thrilled with their edits, Here is a picture from their production team.
Here are the results and where the money went from the Sightsavers website.
We received a staggering £2 million from Comic Relief, all thanks to
the generosity of people like you! And a year on from the appeal we
wanted to let you know how and where this money has been spent. We also
wanted to report back on how some of the people who featured in our
appeal films are getting on.
The funds are being spent in Zambia, Uganda and Kenya, and so far:
- 179,773 people have been screened for eye conditions
- 4,628 sight-restoring cataract operations have been performed
- 141,105 have been treated and protected from the trachoma infection
- 2,254 surgeries have been carried out to reverse the agonizing advanced stage of trachoma
- 3,414 pairs of glasses dispensed
Click here if you would like to donate.
.jpg)
