David Tennant to Leave Doctor Who in 2009

The British Broadcasting Corporation has confirmed that after three seasons as television's beloved Time Lord, David Tennant has announced that he will leave Doctor Who following four specials filmed which will air next year. Tennant initially announced his departure from the program live on stage Wednesday night during the UK's National Television Awards. Rumors have already begun to circulate across Great Britain as to who will assume control of the TARDIS after Tennant leaves the showing.

Tennant assumed the role of the Doctor in TV's longest running science fiction program during the spring of 2005 following the departure of Christopher Eccleston. He was introduced in a regeneration scene at the end of the season finale "The Parting of the Ways." Tennant's first full-length adventure as the Doctor was the 2005 holiday special "The Christmas Invasion." He remained with the series for three full seasons as well as two more Christmas specials. Tennant has filmed another Christmas special for this year, titled "The Next Doctor," which involves the Doctor meeting one of his future selves (played by David Morrissey). He will also appear in four DW specials scheduled for boradcast next year.

The BBC's official Doctor Who webpage posted the full news Wednesday night following Tennant's announcement. "I've had the most brilliant, bewildering and life changing time working on Doctor Who. I have loved every day of it," he said. "It would be very easy to cling on to the TARDIS console forever and I fear that if I don't take a deep breath and make the decision to move on now, then I simply never will. ... I'm still the Doctor all next year but when the time finally comes I'll be honoured to hand on the best job in the world to the next lucky git - whoever that may be."

Tennant also stated that he had always felt the appropriate time for him to leave the series would be in conjunction with the departures of executive producers Russell T. Davies and Julie Gardner from the program. Gardner left the show last year to become Head of Drama for BBC Wales. Davies will hand over the reins as executive producer and head writer of Doctor Who to Steven Moffat, who has won Hugo Awards for several of his Doctor Who in recent years. Tennant has wished Moffat well, saying "Steven Moffat is the most brilliant and exciting writer, the only possible successor to Russell and it was sorely tempting to be part of his amazing new plans for the show. I will be there, glued to my TV when his stories begin in 2010."

Davies has promised to send Tennant's Doctor off with a bang. "I've been lucky and honoured to work with David over the past few years - and it's not over yet, the Tenth Doctor still has five spectacular hours left!" He told the BBC. "After which, I might drop an anvil on his head. Or maybe a piano. A radioactive piano. But we're planning the most enormous and spectacular ending, so keep watching!"

The concept of the Doctor "regenerating," or changing his appearance, was introduced in the 1966 adventure "The Tenth Planet" during the classic series' fourth season. William Hartnell's bad health and poor relations with the show's new producers forced his departure from the series. To keep the program going, the producers decided to replace Hartnell with actor Patrick Troughton. At the end of "The Tenth Planet," the Doctor collapses on the TARDIS floor and his appearance changes in front of his traveling companions. The new Doctor explains that he belongs to a race that is capable of regenerating their bodies when they become old, or are severely injured and near death.

The 1977 adventure "The Deadly Assassin," starring Tom Baker, established the idea that the Doctor's people, the Time Lords, could only regenerate twelve times during their lifespans. Tennant's final story next year will mark the Doctor's tenth regeneration. When the BBC relaunched Doctor Who in 2005, Christopher Eccleston was cast as the ninth actor to play the time traveler from Gallifrey. Within days after the first episode's initial broadcast, Eccleston announced he would leave the series at the end of the first season. Tennant was immediately rumored as the favorite to succeed Eccleston. The BBC confirmed David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor just weeks later.

According to SciFi.com, some actors who are favored to become the Eleventh Doctor include Northern Irish actor James Nesbitt, David Morrissey, Patterson Joseph and John Simm. Joseph and Simm have both previously appeared on Doctor Who. Joseph had a supporting role in Season One's two-part finale, "Bad Wolf"/"The Parting of the Ways." Simm co-starred as the Doctor's archenemy, the Master, in Season Three's finale "The Sound of Drums"/"Last of the Time Lords."