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For David Tennant, landing his latest role as Doctor Who is a dream come true - watching the show was the reason he became an actor in the first place.
Thanks to the Timelord, Tennant, who grew up in West Lothian, knew what he wanted to do at the tender age of three.
The 34-year-old has declared: "I've never made any secret that I'm a big fan of Doctor Who and it's the reason I got into acting."
The youngest of three children, Tennant was born David McDonald but was later persuaded to change his surname by Equity to avoid confusion with another actor.
Despite announcing that he wanted to be an actor while watching his first episode of the sci-fi show, his parents at first dismissed his dream.
But after attending his local grammar school in Paisley, Tennant got his way at the age of 17 - winning a place at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, alongside future stars such as Greg Wise and Emma Fielding.
In the early days things did not go that well for the aspiring actor, whose father, a minister, later became moderator of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Tennant's first job was Brecht's The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui - and he toured the Highlands in a minibus giving performances of the play.
On his second job, playing King Arthur in Edinburgh, a critic delivered a put-down to remember.
"The cast of 18 are uniformly excellent with the exception of David Tennant, who lacks any charm or ability whatsoever," he said.
Tennant, who had a spell with the political theatre group 7:84, was also turned down after auditioning for Taggart 16 times.
But the future looked up when he landed a role in Takin' Over The Asylum, a Scottish TV series, and met his agent.
Tennant moved south - he is now based in London - and later said: "I was terrified for the whole six-hour drive."
He has since become a respected classical actor, appearing in starring roles in a string of Shakespearean plays such as Romeo and Juliet and As You Like It.
In 2003 he won a prestigious Laurence Olivier Theatre Award nomination for his role in Lobby Hero at the Donmar Warehouse in central London.
He also began to break into TV - beginning with small parts in The Bill, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and The Mrs Bradley Mysteries.
Now he is famous for wooing the ladies as the seducer Casanova in the BBC drama, and has recently appeared in BBC1's Blackpool and as a vicar in He Knew He was Right.
Tennant, who once dated Shameless star Anne-Marie Duff, is now set to achieve his dream and is also about to appear in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as Barty Crouch Jr.
He will be the second Scottish actor to take the part and at the age of just 33, he is also one of the youngest.
He said on landing the role: "I grew up loving Doctor Who and it has been a lifelong dream to get my very own Tardis." |
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