Fourteenth Doctor

The Doctor

The Fourteenth Doctor
Doctor Who character
David Tennant as the Fourteenth Doctor in "Wild Blue Yonder" (2023)
First regular appearance	"The Star Beast" (2023)
Last regular appearance	"The Giggle" (2023)
Introduced by	Russell T Davies
Portrayed by	David Tennant
Preceded by	Jodie Whittaker (Thirteenth Doctor)
Succeeded by	Ncuti Gatwa (Fifteenth Doctor)
Information
Tenure	25 November – 9 December 2023
Appearances	3 stories (3 episodes)
Companions	Donna Noble
Chronology	Specials (2023)

The Fourteenth Doctor is an incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. He is portrayed by Scottish actor David Tennant, who previously portrayed the Tenth Doctor and was last seen on the programme in that role in 2013.

Within the series' narrative, the Doctor is a millennia-old alien who is thought to be a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, with somewhat unknown origins, who travels in time and space in the TARDIS, frequently with companions. Usually at the end of each incarnation's life, the Doctor regenerates; as a result, the physical appearance and aspects of the personality of the Doctor changes. Tennant's second incarnation is similar to the Tenth Doctor, but has different quirks in his personality to reflect the time he has spent since the Tenth Doctor in-universe.

Initially it had been announced that the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, would be succeeded as the programme's lead by a Fourteenth Doctor portrayed by Ncuti Gatwa. Upon Whittaker's final appearance as the character, she instead regenerated into a form similar to that of the Tenth Doctor. This character was confirmed to be the Fourteenth Doctor, with later clarification that Gatwa would portray the Fifteenth Doctor.

The Fourteenth Doctor appeared in three special episodes in 2023 commemorating Doctor Who's 60th anniversary, which were executive produced by Russell T Davies, who also returned to the series after having previously executive produced the show from 2005 to 2010. Tennant was praised for his performance as the Fourteenth Doctor, though some have criticised the move to bring back a previous actor, feeling it detracted from the performances of other actors who had portrayed the Doctor.

Appearances[edit]

The Fourteenth Doctor first appears at the conclusion of "The Power of the Doctor" (2022) immediately following the Thirteenth Doctor's regeneration. The Doctor notices that his appearance has reverted to the similar form to the Tenth Doctor.^[1] The following month, Doctor Who Magazine announced that their monthly comic strip would feature the Fourteenth Doctor in Liberation of the Daleks, a story that picks up straight after the ending of "The Power of the Doctor", depicting roughly the first hour of the Fourteenth Doctor's life.^[2] Liberation of the Daleks leads directly into the Fourteenth Doctor's next televised appearance – a minisode aired during the Children in Need telethon on 17 November 2023, informally titled Destination: Skaro.^[3] A short comic strip, titled "Under Control," published as part of Doctor Who: The Official Annual 2024, depicted the Fourteenth Doctor shortly after regeneration confronting the Sycorax, a recurring alien species in the series.^[4] On 24 November 2023 Tennant appeared in-character as the Fourteenth Doctor for the CBeebies Bedtime Story.^[5]

As part of Doctor Who's 60th anniversary specials, the Fourteenth Doctor next appears in "The Star Beast". Arriving in Camden Town, the Doctor bumps into former companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) – who had her memory of the Doctor wiped following a Time Lord biological metacrisis by him in his similar-looking tenth incarnation – and her daughter Rose (Yasmin Finney). The Doctor is forced to trigger the metacrisis, granting Donna access to the knowledge that will enable them to save London from destruction. Donna seems to perish, until it is revealed that Rose had inherited some of her mother's repressed Time Lord abilities, allowing the DoctorDonna's powers to be shared safely between the two.^[6] Later on, Donna spills a cup of coffee on the TARDIS console, forcing it into an uncontrolled dematerialisation. The TARDIS crash lands aboard a spaceship which is adrift at the farthest edge of the universe, where they encounter shape-shifting entities known as "Not-Things." When they return to Camden, a few days after their departure, they discover Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) has been keeping watch for the TARDIS, who warns them that the world is coming to an end.^[7] The Doctor and Donna team up with UNIT, where the Doctor is reunited with several allies from past adventures to combat a plot by the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris) to create global anarchy. In the ensuing battle, the Fourteenth Doctor is shot by the Toymaker, but instead of regenerating, the Doctor "bi-generates" – a supposedly mythical Time Lord process where the new incarnation splits off as a separate physical entity. The Fourteenth Doctor teams up with the new Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) to defeat the Toymaker. The Fifteenth Doctor warns his predecessor that he's worn himself out and needs to process the psychological impact of recent events. The Fourteenth Doctor settles down with Donna and her family, while the Fifteenth Doctor goes off in a duplicate version of the TARDIS to embark on new adventures.^[8]

The Fourteenth Doctor appeared in Comic Relief's Red Nose Day special for 2023, in which host Lenny Henry regenerates into him as the Fourteenth Doctor rushes off to host the show.^[9] A costume based on the Fourteenth Doctor's was also added to the video game Fall Guys as part of promotion for the 60th anniversary specials.^[10]

Development and casting[edit]

Tennant's return was conceived by showrunner Russell T Davies (left) after a conversation with him and co-star Catherine Tate (right).

Tennant, co-star Catherine Tate, and showrunner Russell T Davies participated in the "Doctor Who: Lockdown" events, which were watchalongs of various episodes of the show held by the Doctor Who community during the COVID-19 pandemic, with informal discussion between the three as a result of "Lockdown" leading to the 60th anniversary specials and the reprisal of Tennant and Tate's roles.^{[11] [12]} Davies initially teased their return by not disclosing the true nature of it, hinting that Tennant and Tate may have been reprising their roles via flashbacks or via an alternate universe.^[13] Davies originally planned to bring back Tennant as the Tenth Doctor, and not as a separate incarnation, with the 60th anniversary specials instead being flashbacks to unseen Tenth Doctor adventures.^[14]

The Fourteenth Doctor's clothes regenerated with his appearance from the Thirteenth Doctor's, rather than him choosing them like in most of his previous regenerations. Davies later explained that he wished for the Doctor's clothes to change as part of the first regeneration from a female to a male Doctor, fearing it would be interpreted as a mockery of feminine traits and drag culture by having Tennant appearing in clothing designed for Whittaker.^[15] Davies stated in an interview that despite the Tenth and Fourteenth Doctors' similarities, the Fourteenth was more "human" than the Tenth.^[16] The Fourteenth additionally has a tendency to say things the Tenth would not have said prior, with one example including when he openly stated he loved his companions.^[17] In an interview with BBC News following the announcement of his role reprisal, Tennant commented on his Doctor's appearance saying that "to a sort of casual viewer, I look like I'm sort of dressed in the same way as I used to be. But actually we've gone for something that's sort of the same, but different. That has echoes of the past, but it's also a bit something of the now as well."^[18]

Actor Ncuti Gatwa was announced in May 2022 as the actor who would take over from actress Jodie Whittaker in the role following a series of special episodes throughout 2022.^[19][20] At the end of the final special, "The Power of the Doctor", it was revealed following Whittaker's regeneration that the Doctor had regenerated into an incarnation portrayed by David Tennant,^[21] with Gatwa later being confirmed as the fifteenth incarnation of the character.^[22] Tennant had previously starred in the programme as the Tenth Doctor from 2005 to 2010, and is the first actor to portray two different incarnations of the character over multiple episodes. The return of a previous actor as a new incarnation of the Doctor was previously proposed by Doctor Who co-creator Sydney Newman in a 1986 exchange with then-BBC One controller Michael Grade after the dismissal of Sixth Doctor actor Colin Baker; Newman specifically envisioned Patrick Troughton, who portrayed the Second Doctor, returning for one series before regenerating into a female incarnation.^[23] Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker had also returned in the 2013 special "The Day of the Doctor" as the Curator, suggested to be a possible incarnation of the Doctor.^[24]

Tennant and Catherine Tate appeared as the Fourteenth Doctor and Donna Noble in three special episodes to commemorate the programme's 60th anniversary in November 2023.^[25] Following the specials and the character's in-universe "bi-generation" into the Fifteenth Doctor, Davies stated that there were no further plans to bring Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor back in the future and that the character was "parked."^[26] Davies joked that the Fourteenth Doctor had died following the specials, stating that "He went to Venice, 2063, when the city sank, and he went into a whirlpool, which is really sad..." This was later debunked by a reference to the Fourteenth Doctor made in the episode "The Legend of Ruby Sunday." (2024)^[27]

Reception[edit]

Alex Donaldson of VG247 praised Tennant's performance as the Fourteenth Doctor on the show. He stated that while he initially had doubts about the incarnation, Tennant's performance helped to encapsulate and showcase the Doctor's growth since their Tenth incarnation, as well as highlighting Tennant's own personal strengths as the Doctor.^[17] Rachel Leishman of The Mary Sue noted that despite the feeling of a "cop-out" with Tennant's return, the ability for Tennant's Doctor to come back and expand on the emotions the Tenth Doctor left behind "feels right for what this Doctor is."^[28] Vicky Jessop of the London Evening Standard additionally praised the return of Tennant's Doctor, noting that it helped draw back fans of the series from Tennant's initial time on the show while being able to become its own separate identity from the Tenth Doctor.^[29] Tennant's performance in the specials has been universally praised.^{[30][31][32][33][34]}

Elisa Guimarães of Collider saw the return of Tennant to the series as a "cop-out," noting how bringing back Tennant after Jodie Whittaker's run as the Doctor and before Ncuti Gatwa's run as the Doctor made it seem to casual audiences as though there was little confidence in either's ability to make the show successful. She believed Tennant's return overshadowed both of them and was a "major step back" for the series.^[35] Constance Grady, writing for Vox, criticised the character's bi-generation, which allowed the Fourteenth Doctor to live on in-universe. She criticised it for apparent bias towards Tennant's incarnation of the Doctor by allowing him to continue to exist while other incarnations died and changed into different ones, stating that "Tennant gets treated as though he is somehow more the Doctor than any other incarnation."^[36] Charles Pulliam-Moore of The Verge additionally noted that while there were avenues for Tennant's Doctor to explore independently of Gatwa, he felt that Tennant being kept around existed only to placate those uncomfortable with the idea of a black Doctor, noting that "The Giggle" framed the Fifteenth Doctor more as emotional support for the Fourteenth Doctor and intrinsically tied to his predecessor, resulting in Gatwa's Doctor having less individuality overall.^[37]

References[edit]