David Tennant, who played both the 10th and 14th Doctor, indicated he has no plans to return to the Doctor Who franchise following the 60th Anniversary specials that aired late last year.
The Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) in Doctor Who Special Three: The Giggle
In an interview with Radio Times, Tennant told the outlet, “The Doctor’s happy. He is in a garden in Chiswick, being made mac and cheese by Bonnie Langford!”
He then shared, “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.”
David Tennant as the 14th Doctor in Wild Blue Yonder (2023), BBC
He then made it even more clear when Radio Times hit him with a hypothetical about Earth being invaded while Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor was elsewhere.
Tennant said, “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!”
David Tennant as the 14th Doctor and Catherine Tate as Donna Noble in Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special 2 “Wild Blue Yonder”(2023), BBC
Tennant’s return as the Doctor was met with diminishing returns as far as viewership was concerned. Overnight ratings for his return in “The Star Beast” clocked in at 5.08 million in the United Kingdom.
In the second episode “Wild Blue Yonder” it dropped to 4.83 million. Finally, the third and final special “The Giggle” fell to 4.62 million.
The Doctor (David Tennant) in Doctor Who Special One: The Star Beast
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The series did not appear to gain any traction in the United States. Samba TV’s weekly reporting did not show it breach the Top 10 for any of the weeks the three specials debuted.
For the week of November 20th to 26th, when “The Star Beast” aired it did not chart.
The #SambaTVWeeklyWrap is here! #Netflix dominates the top 4 with #LeoOnNetflix, #SquidGameTheChallenge, #BestChristmasEver, and #thecrown6. Rounding out the top 5 is #Paramount+’s #LawmenBassReeves.
In the back half of the top 10, we see #Peacock‘s #Genie movie,… pic.twitter.com/UpJo9EHAYP
— Samba TV (@samba_tv) December 1, 2023
Similarly, the week that “Wild Blue Yonder” debuted, it did not chart.
The #SambaTVWeeklyWrap is here!
No surprise that #LeaveTheWorldBehind took #1 this week, but the rest of the mostly #Netflix top 5 was a mixed bag.
Coming in at #2, #TheSuperMarioBrosMovie scored high viewership following its Netflix debut, #FamilySwitch continued to draw in… pic.twitter.com/D5FtIMpw5q
— Samba TV (@samba_tv) December 15, 2023
“The Giggle” did not chart either for the week it debuted on Disney+.
The #SambaTVWeeklyWrap is here!
We’re starting to see more holiday flicks enter into the top 10, including #AmazonPrimeVideo‘s breakthrough as number 1 this week with the #EddieMurphy-led #CandyCaneLane. The less warm-and-fuzzy #SquidGameTheChallenge takes 2nd, the now… pic.twitter.com/GXe9bEuqKb
— Samba TV (@samba_tv) December 8, 2023
The show did not chart on Nielsen’s ratings either. In fact, it performed worse than The Big Bang Theory reruns on Netflix, which was the 10th performing acquired series on Nielsen’s charts. The show only brought in 541 million minutes viewed.
Nielsen Top 10 Acquired Streaming Series for the week of November 20th to November 26
What do you make of Tennant indicating the 15th Doctor has retired and he will not return to Doctor Who?
