Dreamwatch 133
Tuesday, 30 August 2005 - Reported by Shaun Lyon
David Tennant features on the cover on the latest issue ofDreamwatch magazine -- which is now on sale -- and is a featured interview inside the magazine. "It's not like any other acting job," Tennant tells Dreamwatch, "just with the amount of attention that it gets. I've done all sorts of different things. That's all been great fun, but suddenly I get cast as Doctor Who and it was on the news! [laughs] I was visiting my mum and dad, and we were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast, and it came on the news. That's just a whole other world of attention. It's great. It's fantastic to be involved with something that's loved and that people get excited about it. It's a privilege to be a part of that history, but it's kind of daunting as well." He says he was approached for the role because "I was working with Russell T. Davies, the main writer and creative head of it, on Casanova at the end of last year. I knew him through that. Unbeknownst to me, that was my audition. It came up after that, when they knew that Chris Eccleston was moving on. They just asked me to do it. I didn't have to [formally] audition because I had done Casanova. That became my audition because I'd been working so closely with Russell. I didn't know that Doctor Who was a possibility then, and it probably wasn't at that point." Was it true that he had to keep the news quiet? "I couldn't tell anyone. It was such a high voltage secret, I was just aware that there was really no choice. I wanted to tell everyone, of course, but it was pretty hard. My agent was the only person that I could talk to about it." How did it feel when Tom Baker endorsed you for the part? "I heard about this. I was completely thrilled. That's really lovely. I haven't actually confirmed it. I've only heard it third-hand, and of course I never believe anything I read in the papers. I hope it's true. I'm choosing to believe it's true. I'm a huge fan of his." The issue also features an interview with comic creator Bryan Hitch, who served as concept artist on the revival of Doctor Who, where he talks about revamping the TARDIS, the Daleks and offers tantalising clues about the new Cybermen. Visit the Dreamwatch website for more information.