The Tenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is played by David Tennant in three series and nine specials. As with previous incarnations of the Doctor, the character has also appeared in other Doctor Who spin-offs both during and after the character's televised appearances. In 2023, Tennant returned to the role, this time as the fourteenth incarnation of the Doctor.
Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a centuries-old alien Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who travels in time and space in the TARDIS, frequently with companions. At the end of each incarnation's life, the Doctor regenerates; as a result, the physical appearance and personality of the Doctor changes. Tennant's portrayal of the Tenth Doctor is of an outwardly charismatic and charming adventurer whose likable and easygoing attitude can quickly turn to righteous fury when provoked. Preceded in regeneration by the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), he is followed by the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith).
This incarnation's companions include some who travelled with his previous incarnation: working-class shop assistant Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), her boyfriend Mickey Smith (Noel Clarke), and former "Time Agent" Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), as well as medical student Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) and fiery temp worker Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). He eventually parts ways with them all by the end of the 2008 series finale, "Journey's End", after which he attempts to travel alone for the duration of the 2008–2010 specials before being accompanied by Donna's grandfather Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbins) on his final adventure in "The End of Time".
Overview Executive producer Russell T Davies revived Doctor Who after a 16-year absence with the premiere of "Rose" in 2005. Following the BBC's announcement of a second series being commissioned, the story broke that Christopher Eccleston, who played the titular Ninth Doctor, would not be returning for the second series. On 16 April 2005, the BBC announced that David Tennant had been selected for the role of the Tenth Doctor. His first appearance in the series was for 20 seconds following the Ninth Doctor's regeneration at the end of "The Parting of the Ways". His first full episode as the Doctor, barring an appearance in a "mini-episode" during the 2005 Children in Need show, was the 2005 Christmas Special, "The Christmas Invasion". He then appeared in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 series. Rather than a traditional series run, 2009 and early 2010 featured Tennant in a series of four specials. He also guest-starred in the 2009 two-part The Sarah Jane Adventures story The Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith. Tennant also appears in two animated serials The Infinite Quest and Dreamland. In 2013, Tennant reprised his role as the Tenth Doctor for the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor", and returned to Doctor Who as the Fourteenth Doctor in 2023 for three 60th anniversary specials.
Personality The Tenth Doctor speaks with an Estuary English accent, rather than the Lancashire dialect (Christopher Eccleston's own dialect) that the Ninth Doctor used, the Received Pronunciation of most earlier Doctors, or Tennant's Scottish English. David Tennant told SFX magazine in 2006 that Russell T Davies had asked him to drop his natural Scottish accent, because he felt "we'd like to not go for another obvious regional accent, because I suppose they'd done that". In a 23 December interview on BBC Radio 1, Tennant explained that a line had been scripted for the Christmas special explaining that the newly regenerated Doctor had imprinted on Rose Tyler's accent "like a chick hatching from an egg", but the line was cut from the final episode. He also has two "catchphrases" which were allons-y (a French term meaning "let's go".) and molto bene (an Italian term meaning "very good"). These two terms were apparent in many of his episodes. Langston Mooney Ganesh or LMG came up with the phrase "allons-y" to be used by the Tenth Doctor. There was a niche reference made as tribute to him in the first episode of Torchwood.
In the audiobook The Last Voyage, the Tenth Doctor states that he is not neurotypical. The depictions of the personalities of the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors shared certain similarities e.g. both being youthful, energetic, friendly, childlike, "good boyfriend Doctors", as Steven Moffat described them and, according to Mark Gatiss "very human Doctors" when compared to other incarnations.
Appearance
The Doctor complains that his tenth incarnation is not "ginger". However, this incarnation was happy to have sideburns and to have more hair than his previous incarnation. He wears his own brown hair in various ways throughout the series (unstyled in "The Christmas Invasion", a 1950s-style quiff in "The Idiot's Lantern", and flattened forwards in "The Runaway Bride" and "The Day of the Doctor") but mainly styled it in a spiked-up fashion throughout most of the series, with this style being described by friend and later one-time companion Wilfred Mott as being a "modern style sort of hair. All sticky-uppy". He has dark brown eyes and is perceived by most, including companions and other characters such as his future incarnation as "slim and a little bit foxy". They chose these kind of foxier, more slim and younger men for the show earlier on to attract attention and gain traction for this "regenerated" version of Doctor Who called "New Who".
His costume was unveiled on 27 July 2005. He generally wears either a dark brown (with blue pinstripes) or a blue (with rust red pinstripes) four-buttoned suit with a shirt and a tie, or a shirt and t-shirt, a light brown faux-suede duster coat (which he claims was given to him by Janis Joplin), and different coloured pairs of Converse All-Star trainers, depending on his suit. According to an interview on Parkinson, David Tennant and Russell T Davies got the idea for the Tenth Doctor's costume from an outfit Jamie Oliver had worn on Parkinson just after Tennant had taken the role. David Tennant has commented that he would vary the combination of the buttons he fastened on his jacket in different episodes. Tennant thought the look was very geek chic.David Tennant (5 May 2007). David Tennant on Parkinson. Interview with Michael Parkinson. Parkinson. ITV. London.
The Doctor dons a pair of dark tortoise-shell rectangular frame glasses, an affectation (along with his signature footwear) borrowed from the Fifth Doctor. On one occasion, he wears a pair of Red-Cyan 3D glasses, both as a joke and for practical reasons. Despite appearing in only one story, the glasses became an accessory commonly associated with Tennant's incarnation of the character."Doctor Who Fashion Line from AbbyShot Clothiers ", UberSciFiGeek.com, 12 March 2010 Costume Designer Louise Page cited that it is the costume she is most proud of from her time on Doctor Who.Doctor Who Magazine #418, February 2010
Appearances
Television The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) regenerates into the Tenth Doctor at the climax of the first-series (2005) finale, "The Parting of the Ways"; he then reintroduces himself to his companion Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) in a Children in Need mini-episode called "Born Again". In the 2005 Christmas special, "The Christmas Invasion", he is in a comatose state for most of the episode, following his regeneration. After eventually waking up, he defeats the alien Sycorax and saves Earth; in the process, he loses a hand, which regrows owing to his recent regeneration. Amongst other second-series (2006) adventures, the Doctor and Rose save Queen Victoria (Pauline Collins) from a werewolf in "Tooth and Claw", resulting in the creation of the anti-alien Torchwood Institute. In "School Reunion", The Doctor shares an adventure with two former companions, journalist Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and robot dog K9 (voiced by John Leeson), before taking on Rose's boyfriend Mickey (Noel Clarke) as a second companion. The TARDIS slips through a crack in the Time Vortex causing them to be stranded on a parallel Earth, where they encounter the Cybermen in the episode, "Rise of the Cybermen". After saving parallel Earth, Mickey decides to stay and help stop the Cybermen around the world despite The Doctor telling him he can never return in "The Age of Steel". He and Rose become stranded on a planet orbiting around a black hole in "The Impossible Planet", where The Beast is waiting far underground. While there, in "The Satan Pit", The Beast taunts The Doctor and Rose about Rose's death. During the 2012 Olympic Games in "Fear Her", The Doctor picks up the Olympic flame and carries it to the end, starting the Games. The series finale takes place in contemporary London, where modern-day Torchwood is the scene for war between the evil alien Daleks and parallel-universe cyborgs the Cybermen; saving the Earth costs the Doctor Rose, who is stranded in a parallel universe, along with Mickey and her mother, in "Doomsday".
In the closing scene of "Doomsday", a mysterious bride called Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) inexplicably appears in his TARDIS. The 2006 Christmas special, "The Runaway Bride" sees The Doctor and bride-to-be Donna save the Earth; Donna saves The Doctor from going too far in his revenge against the alien Racnoss, and although she declines his offer of companionship, she tells The Doctor he may need a new companion to keep him in check. In the third series (2007), The Doctor takes on Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) as his new companion. Together, they witness the mysterious Face of Boe (Struan Rodger) prophecy to The Doctor that "you are not alone", in "Gridlock". They are rejoined by former companion Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman) in a three-episode adventure beginning with "Utopia", where presumed-deceased archenemy and fellow Time Lord The Master (John Simm) becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and ages The Doctor. Martha's plan sees The Doctor infused with the world's psychic energies, and he easily defeats The Master, who seemingly refuses to regenerate and dies in The Doctor's arms. Following this adventure, in the dénouement of series finale "Last of the Time Lords", Jack and Martha both depart the TARDIS, and The Doctor is shocked to see what appears to be the RMS Titanic crash into it. Set moments prior, another Children in Need mini-episode, "Time Crash", features a brief encounter between Tennant's Tenth Doctor and the Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison), containing meta-humour surrounding the fact David Tennant had watched and loved Davison's Doctor as a child. In parallel with the third series, Tennant lends his voice to the animated serial The Infinite Quest.