The actor was asked on the red carpet at the BAFTA TV Awards about possibly returning to the TARDIS. David Tennant has said that he isn’t planning to come back to Doctor Who – at least not any time soon.
We’re now halfway through Doctor Who season 2, with five episodes aired and three more to go. So, recently this season’s fifth episode, titled “The Story and the Engine,” has released on BBC. Viewers outside the UK can also watch the show by using a VPN to access.
While speaking to Deadline on the red carpet at the 2025 BAFTA Television Awards with P&O Cruises, he explained that the show has been running for “sixty years and it shows no signs of stopping.”
And part of what makes it such a vibrant show is that it keeps renewing and finding new ways to tell stories… and as far as I’m aware, that’s happening without me for a while. I promise you I’d tell you if it was true!
He added
Tennant first played the Tenth Doctor in a highly praised run of three seasons from 2005 to 2010. Since then, he has returned a few times in major episodes – most recently in three specials for the show’s 60th anniversary in 2023.
Read More: Millie Gibson Responds to Doctor Who ‘Woke’ Criticisms: “Just Watch It and Get Over It”
In those episodes, he took on a new version of the Time Lord – known as the Fourteenth Doctor – and was part of the show’s first bi-generation, a major twist where he split into two instead of going through the usual regeneration.
At the end of the special, the Fourteenth Doctor got what seemed to be a clear ending – and last year, Tennant said in an interview with Radio Times magazine that “this was the end of the road for him.”
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.
he said
So it seems fans shouldn’t expect to see Tennant back in the TARDIS any time soon…
Doctor Who returns next Saturday (17th May), with new episodes released at 8 am on Saturdays on BBC iPlayer in the UK and later on BBC One.
Source: RadioTimes