While accepting the outstanding drama performance award at the National Television Awards (NTA) in the UK, David Tennant, the current and Tenth Doctor, announced he’ll be leaving DOCTOR WHO in 2009. “I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don’t take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you’ll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair,” said Tennant to the audience at the Royal Albert Hall. Tennant will still portray the Doctor for the 2008 Christmas special (along with the Cybermen) in "The Next Doctor" and will film an additional 4 specials to be aired throughout 2009. Actors including Russell Tovey, James Nesbitt, Paterson Joseph, John Simm, Robert Carlyle and David Morrissey have been mentioned in the media as frontrunners to portray the 11th Doctor but only Russell T. Davies, who’s also leaving the series, and Steven Moffat, the new executive director, probably know who’s got the part at this point. Whoever it is, they’ll have big shoes to fill:  Tennant was voted the most popular Doctor in a reader survey in Doctor Who magazine in 2006 and he’s won the NTA award for most popular actor in both 2006 & 2007.  (Personally I think he ties with Christopher Eccleston, but they didn’t ask me…) Russell T. Davies told BBC News on the end of the Tenth Doctor and his work with Tennant: “I’ve been lucky and honored to work with David over the past few years – and it’s not over yet, the Tenth Doctor still has five spectacular hours left! After which, I might drop an anvil on his head. Or maybe a piano. A radioactive piano. But we’re planning the most enormous and spectacular ending, so keep watching.” Currently Tennant is performing theatre roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has received praise for his work in Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost. For David Tennant’s take on leaving the Doctor after 3 years, check out this interview he did with the BBC:

Technorati Tags: BBC, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Eleventh Doctor, Sci Fi, Tenth Doctor

The powers that be at SCI FI Channel have finally picked a date and it’s April 18th – that’s the day DOCTOR WHO Season 4 will premiere here in the U.S. according to the commercial I just caught. They’ll be starting with the third ‘Christmas’ episode ‘Voyage of the Damned’ starring Kylie Minogue as The Doctor’s companion Astrid Peth (along with a ship named the Titanic) and then they’ll segue into the main Season 4 shows.

This looks to be a very interesting season. I’ve been trying to avoid seeing too many spoilers online, but it’s hard when other countries who get BBC UK have already seen it and can’t wait to share every little tidbit. (Turnabout’s fair play, eh? After all the years the U.S. got shows first and posted their own spoilers everywhere, hmmm?)

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Potential Spoilers of My Own:
One thing I do know from various newsbites: we should be seeing at least 4 previous companions besides Kylie Minogue aka Astrid Peth this time around in various combinations – Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones, Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith and Billie Piper as Rose Tyler. As if The Doctor didn’t have enough problems to deal with… LOL

Plus the DOCTOR WHO Season 4 guest star list includes:
Paul O’Grady (talk show host)
Alex Kingston (ER)
Sarah Lancashire (MURDER MOST HORRID)
Felicity Kendal (THE GOOD LIFE)
Tim McInnerny (BLACK ADDER, MI-5)
Peter Capaldi (THE THICK OF IT)
Phil Davis (NOTES ON A SCANDAL)
Tracey Childs (HOWARDS’ WAY)

However, according to various sources, this may be David Tennant’s last full season as The Doctor, at least until 2010. It’s seems that next year, we’ll only be getting 3 ’specials’ instead of Season 5. No one’s sure if it’s because Tennant is planning a run with the Royal Shakespeare Company during the summer of 2009 and so production has been pushed back or if because he won’t be coming back as The Doctor and they’ll need to get a new one before filming can start. (I hope it’s the former – I’m getting a little tired of ‘breaking in’ new Doctors for now. I’m finally used to the current one. LOL)

In the meantime, 21 Days and Counting til Season 4 starts here!!!!!

Technorati Tags: BBC, David Tennant, Doctor Who, Sci Fi, Season 4