David Tennant Reveals Which Era He Wished He’d Visited on ‘Doctor Who’

David Tennant will forever be many people’s favorite titular Time Lord in Doctor Who. The sandshoe-wearing, universe-flying incarnation of the classic sci-fi hero is one that touched the most hearts and spanned the greatest emotional spectrum, from his doting romance with Billie Piper‘s Rose Tyler to the danger of the “Time Lord Victorious.” Over 4 years and 47 episodes, without even considering his two reprisals of the character in 2013 and 2023, Tennant got to almost do it all as the captain of the TARDIS… almost.

During Tennant’s interview on the main stage at MCM Comic Con at Excel London, a member of the audience asked the Scottish star which era in time he wished he’d been able to visit and didn’t have the chance to. “Well, we got to go to Shakespeare’s Globe which was very exciting, I always wanted to do that,” Tennant replied, referring to the 2007 episode “The Shakespeare Code.” He continued, “The only one I wanted to go back to was The Cavern and see The Beatles when they were brand new, but they’ve sort of done that, that was the box that got ticked after I’d left.” He added, “Listen, there’s loads of opportunities aren’t there and that’s one of the joys of this show is that it’s got lots of stories left to tell.”

After returning as a newer version of the Time Lord in a trio of 2023 special episodes to celebrate the show’s 60th anniversary, Tennant’s bi-generation into Ncuti Gatwa ushered in a new era of Doctor Who, one that, just three episodes in, saw the Gallifreyan meet the very band Tennant so desperately sought to. In 2024’s “The Devil’s Chord,” Gatwa’s Doctor and Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) fight the mysterious Maestro (Jinx Monsoon) and use the inadvertent help of The Beatles to save the day.

David Tennant Loves ‘Doctor Who’

As a super-fan of the series since he was a child, it is no surprise Tennant is the actor to have appeared the most throughout the show’s history. Whether it’s in audio drama in the years between the show’s cancellation and its 2005 revival, or his latest incarnation’s battle with the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris), Tennant’s imprint is felt across many eras of the sci-fi series. The show has always been at the actor’s heart, and his passion for the series and its fans is felt in every breath of his performance. At the aforementioned MCM Comic Con, one fan shared a statistic that most people’s favorite Doctor is the one from when they were ten years old, with Tennant replying:

“Doctor Who is the kind of show that imprints on you as a child, and if it gets its hooks into you like it did to me, it doesn’t really let go. There’s something about that, being caught up in the magic of those stories when it first grabs you, and when it takes you on that journey through time and space, it does live with you forever.“

Catch the latest episodes of David Tennant’s beloved Doctor Who now on Disney+.