David John Tennant (né McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who (2005–2010; 2013), returning to the show as the fourteenth incarnation of the character in 2022. His other notable roles include Giacomo Casanova in the BBC comedy-drama serial Casanova (2005), Barty Crouch Jr. in the fantasy film Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Peter Vincent in the horror remake Fright Night (2011), DI Alec Hardy in the ITV crime drama series Broadchurch (2013–2017), Kilgrave in the Netflix superhero series Jessica Jones (2015–2019), Crowley in the Amazon Prime fantasy series Good Omens (2019–present), and Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days (2021).

Tennant has worked extensively on stage, including a portrayal of the title character in a 2008 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet that was later adapted for television. He has also been a voice actor in The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2011), Ferdinand (2017), Final Space (2018–2021), gen:LOCK (2019–present), the How to Train Your Dragon films (2010–2019), and as Scrooge McDuck in DuckTales (2017–2021). In 2015, he received the National Television Award for Special Recognition.

Early life
Tennant was born David John McDonald in Bathgate on 18 April 1971, the son of Helen (née McLeod; 1940–2007) and Alexander "Sandy" McDonald (1937–2016). His father was a minister who served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He grew up with his brother Blair and sister Karen in Ralston, where his father was the local minister. Two of his maternal great-grandparents, William and Agnes Blair, were Northern Irish Protestants from County Londonderry who were among the signatories of the Ulster Covenant in 1912; William was also a member of the Orange Order. Tennant's maternal grandfather, footballer Archie McLeod, met William and Agnes' daughter Nellie while playing for Derry City FC. McLeod was descended from tenant farmers from the Isle of Mull.

At the age of three, Tennant told his parents that he wanted to become an actor because he was a fan of Doctor Who, but they encouraged him to aim for more conventional work. He later said that he was "absurdly single-minded" in pursuing an acting career. He watched almost every Doctor Who episode for years and once spoke to Fourth Doctor actor Tom Baker at a book-signing event in Glasgow. He was educated at Ralston Primary School and Paisley Grammar School and acted in various school productions. His talent was noticed by actress Edith MacArthur, who told his parents that she believed he would become a successful theatre actor after she saw him perform when he was 10 years old.

Tennant attended Saturday classes at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland before passing an official audition at age 16, becoming one of their youngest students and studying there between the ages of 17 and 20. After discovering that there was another David McDonald already represented by the actor's union Equity, he created his stage name by adopting the surname of Pet Shop Boys frontman Neil Tennant, whom he had seen in Smash Hits magazine while deciding on a new name. He later legally changed his surname to comply with rules set by the American Screen Actors Guild (which was later merged into SAG-AFTRA).