‘Doctor Who’ 50th anniversary special: David Tennant says lovely things about Matt Smith
Given that you have two actors in Matt Smith and David Tennant with a mutual interest in promoting the upcoming “Doctor Who” 50th anniversary special, you would also expect them to each say wonderful things about each other just for the sake of giving their show a little bit more publicity. However, there is also something about the latest comments from Tennant that feel very earnest, almost like he is speaking the truth about someone he really cares about now rather than just pushing a show that is already going to smash records around the globe.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Tennant gives some insight into what was an interesting sort of situation working with someone who was basically your replacement, where it feels almost like you are stepping on someone else’s ground while at the same time enjoying some memories of what was once a very important part of your own life:
“I suppose you’d expect me to say we’re new best friends and I love him like a brother. But that is sort of how it was. I had a fantastic time and that wouldn’t necessarily have been the case. I’m coming back onto a show that’s effectively somebody else’s show and used to be mine and that’s potentially quite a weird situation to be in. Going back to something I knew so well and had such fun memories of might have backfired. It’s a quite rare set of circumstances: Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig don’t get to play James Bond next to each other. But actually it felt familiar enough that it was like coming home and working with Matt proved to be a real joy. I hope I’m speaking for him when I say we really enjoyed bouncing of each other and playing sort of two aspects of the same character. It was everything that I hoped it might be and nothing that I feared it could be.”
Tennant to this day remains one of the most-popular actors to wear the moniker of The Doctor, and for many fans of a certain generation he is the first one that they remember watching. Therefore, it is rather fair to say that there is going to be a certain spoonful of nostalgia for anyone who happens to tune into this show.
There is some other great celebration happening right now for the “Doctor Who” 50th anniversary special, including the Google Maps makeover to make the inside of a police box look like the Tardis. The show airs simultaneously around the world on November 23.
Photo: BBC One