David Tennant 'quits' major BBC role after character 'killed off'

As fans of iconic science fiction series Doctor Who celebrate the return of the time-travelling Time Lord, with new episodes starring Ncuti Gatwa airing on the BBC from Saturday 11 May, there is also some sad news as current showrunner and script writer Russell T Davies has confirmed that David Tennant’s previous incarnation of the Doctor will not be returning – and has, in fact, been killed off.

Scottish actor David, who will next be seen in the Disney+ drama series Riders later this year, originally starred as the tenth Doctor from 2005 until 2010 before the character regenerated and became the eleventh Doctor, as played by Matt Smith. Two more Doctors followed – played by Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker – but David made a surprise return last year during Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary celebrations when Jodie’s thirteenth Doctor regenerated, and David surprisingly popped up as the fourteenth Time Lord.

While the three special anniversary episodes ended with the Doctor splitting in two, with David’s character going into retirement and Ncuti’s new Doctor taking over the TARDIS controls, many fans were hoping that David would return at a later date – but now Russell has confirmed that won’t be the case.

“I think he died,” Russell said in an interview with The Times. “I’m going to start saying that. He went to Venice, 2063, when the city sank and he went into a whirlpool, which is really sad…” Pressed on whether there still could be the chance of a return for David – after all, no one expected his most recent appearance – Russell added: “David is parked and retired and it’s all Ncuti’s show now. Genuinely. Not that David might be coming back – he’s absolutely not coming back.”

Russell has made no secret of the fact that he is thrilled to have Ncuti on board as the new Doctor. He recently spoke about working with the actor as the new series launched: “I consider myself to be the luckiest man on earth that in the year that I came along to take over Doctor Who, Ncuti Gatwa was coming to the end of his time on Sex Education. I’m so lucky that happened. It just looks like it was meant to be."

"When you see him in action as the Doctor, he’s just astonishing. I had to have a few words with myself. I thought, ‘You have done a few Doctors now, can you do it again? Are you going to get excited? Are you going to get energised?’ And then you look at Ncuti doing the role, and it’s like a brand-new playing field. It’s open vistas and new horizons ahead of you. It’s so exciting that it inspires me. It generates stories in me. It’s an absolute joy to work with him.”