David Tennant Added a Line to His Latest Doctor Who Regeneration

All of Doctor Who’s post-regeneration scenes are temporary little home windows in what to probably count on from a brand new Doctor—however once you’re David Tennant and getting the possibility to play not one, however two Doctors, you’re going to wish to have a little bit callback to the final time you probably did this.

Tennant’s debut because the 14th Doctor within the climax of “The Power of the Doctor” is temporary, however after all touches upon the confusion of each the Doctor and the viewers that they all of the sudden seem like one in every of their previous selves once more. Gazing out of new-old eyes after regenerating, the Doctor stops gasping for breath and runs their tongue over their mouth, tumbling out the 14th Doctor’s first phrases: “I know these teeth.”

It’s a line that was apparently prompt by none apart from Tennant himself. “It wasn’t exactly the longest day at the keyboard,” incoming/returning showrunner Russell T. Davies instructed Doctor Who Magazine about writing his a part of the regeneration scene. “They’re obvious first lines. But David added the bit about teeth. That’s his line. So it’s written by the two of us.”

It’s a callback, after all, to the climax of “The Parting of the Ways,” when Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor reworked into Tennant’s Tenth, heralding his new physique with a remark “New teeth. That’s weird. So where was I?” It’s a cute second, and one Davies appreciated the addition of. “That’s rather nice, isn’t it?,” the author continued. “I like that. I was really chuffed.”

Tennant and Davies return to Doctor Who in a collection of three specials in November 2023, to have fun the collection’ sixtieth anniversary.

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