Following his original stretch as the Tenth Doctor for 2005-2010, plus a reprisal for the 50th anniversary special “The Day of The Doctor,” David Tennant returned for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary specials to bring the Fourteenth Doctor to life. While we knew these specials would also lead Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor, in a strange twist, 14 bi-generated into 15 rather than the traditional regeneration, meaning both incarnations of the Time Lord exist within the same personal timeline (and also came with a bonus concerning other Doctors). However, Tennant has now gotten brutally honest about the odds of the Fourteenth Doctor returning, and his comment is frankly confusing.
In case you need a refresher, after the Fourteenth Doctor bi-generated into the Fifteenth Doctor and the two teamed up to defeat Neil Patrick Harris’ Toymaker, 14 decided to retire from his constant adventuring in order to heal from the traumas his past selves had endured over the centuries. He’s now settled down with Donna Noble and her family, although because 15 was able to create a duplicate TARDIS as his “prize” for beating Toymaker, 14 is still free to travel through time and space when he wants. But as Tennant informed Radio Times, fans shouldn’t count on more Fourteenth Doctor stories coming, saying:
The Doctor’s happy. He is in a garden in Chiswick, being made mac and cheese by Bonnie Langford! The door is not any more open than it ever was, because in Doctor Who if you want to bring someone back, there are endless ways of doing it. It’s very much the end of the story.
Ok, let me make one thing clear first: I never expected the Fourteenth Doctor to take center stage in Doctor Who again, and showrunner Russell T. Davies explicitly said this wasn’t in the cards. It was a great idea to have 14 take Donna Noble and 15’s advice to live a quiet life and focus on mental recovery. It’s arguably the biggest way 14 now stands out from his predecessors… well, aside from the fact that he looks like the Tenth Doctor. And while I don’t agree with 14’s implication that the Nobles and Mel Bush comprise his first family (I won’t stand for this erasure of Amy Pond, Rory Williams and River Song), it is nonetheless welcome to see the Time Lord be happy in a way he’s never experienced before.
All this being said, it is odd for David Tennant to outright rule out any more Fourteenth Doctor appearances. Sure, we know 14 will eventually die and become 15 through the bi-generation, but shouldn’t the door be kept open for the former to return someday, even if it’s just for a special occasion or two? And for those wondering about why 14 couldn’t simply protect Earth while 15’s off in another corner of the universe or different time period, that hypothetical scenario was brought up to the actor, and he countered:
You could also say, 'Why has Patrick Troughton not landed here?!' It unpicks if you think about that too much. I’m retired! The Fourteenth Doctor is retired!
While my fingers remain crossed that David Tennant becomes agreeable to reprising the Fourteenth Doctor someday, even if it’s just for a Big Finish audio production, it’s clearly not something he’s interested in doing right now. Fortunately, there’s plenty to look forward to from the Fifteenth Doctor on Doctor Who. The Christmas special “The Church on Ruby Road” marked his first solo adventure and saw him meeting Millie Gibson’s Ruby Sunday, who’s now become his companion aboard the TARDIS, although it looks like this partnership won’t last too long.
Doctor Who Season 14 will premiere to Disney+ subscribers sometime this May. Look through our 2024 TV schedule to learn what other shows are coming up, and remember that if you’d like to stream the first 13 seasons of Doctor Who’s modern era, you’ll need a Max subscription.
