David Tennant Will 'Absolutely' Never Return to 'Doctor Who'

By Dustin Rowles | TV | May 9, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | May 9, 2024 |

David Tennant returned to Doctor Who as the 14th Doctor in the 2023 Doctor Who holiday specials, only to split off from Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doctor and live on his own, as something of a layperson. It was a great way to introduce Gatwa’s Doctor and a fun way to move on from Tennant’s beloved Doctor without killing him.

The only problem, however, is that it left the door open for Tennant’s Doctor to return, which didn’t sit well with a number of viewers who are excited to let Gatwa’s Doctor have the spotlight to himself.

As it turns out, there’s no need to fret. Showrunner Russell T. Davies not only tells The Times that Tennant will “absolutely” never return but that the 14th Doctor — in his mind, anyway — is already dead.

“I think he died,” Davies told the paper. “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 … 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.”

So that’s that, at least for the second Davies era, which should encompass the entire Gatwa era; Davies won’t say how long Gatwa will stick around, or if he’ll stay on for a 16th Doctor. However, Davies has nearly finished production on a second series with Gatwa and will soon start writing a third before the first has even premiered.

In that same interview, Davies also took issue with the criticism of the Jodie Whittaker era and the notion that he returned to rescue the series from its doldrums. “I know people were saying that and it’s not really fair for me to comment. But I loved Jodie. My friend Chris Chibnall was writing it. I think we’re having to cope with an internet age in which fandom is very critical. But it’s not public opinion.”

I don’t know if that is true. The Internet certainly had issues with the Chibnall era, but I think public opinion — at least that reflected in the ratings — suggested that Whittaker was well-liked but Chibnall’s episodes did not connect as well.

Doctor Who returns this Saturday on Disney+ with two brand new episodes.

Source: The Times