David Tennant Treat 4 Today for Monday 22nd October 2018

On 18th April 2014 it was David Tennant's 43rd birthday so that day we tweeted 43 quotes by either David or a character he had played.

The David Tennant Treat 4 Today are the 43 quotes.

#43 – A piece of advice

When someone brings you a cup of tea, you say ‘thank you’ rather than ‘it’s not warm enough’ (Channel 4 interview, 2013)

#42 – Playing Hamlet

On the opening night in Stratford, when outside my dressing room window the BBC News 24 truck pulled up, I realised that if I failed at this it was going to be on a fairly international level.
(Los Angeles Times 2009)

#41

It’s ghastly. Every time I do a play, I have a moment when I think I’ll never do it again. Genuinely, I’ll think it’s not worth it...it’s just agony. You’re often aware of how close you are to dying. You’re on stage and you’re composing the speech you’re about to give: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, terribly sorry, but I have to leave the stage now and throw up in my dressing room.’ Maybe I need that fear.
(Theatre Scotland, 2005)

#40

I see no shame in having an unhealthy obsession with something.
(The Times interview, 2013)

#39 – Note the date! Little did he know..

I’ve been an obsessive Doctor Who fan since I was a child and it persists to this very day. The BBC run a Doctor Who website and I go on almost every day to check the latest news. Doctor Who is the finest piece of television that has ever been made anywhere. They’re putting together a new TV series next year and Bill Nighy is supposed to play the doctor. I’ve been onto my agent to see if I can get a part, but she’s not keen. She says I’ll never work again if I do it. I’m proud to say, though, that I have already performed in a couple of audiobook episodes. That was heaven.
(20 Questions with David Tennant, 2003)

#38 – Why is his Doctor the most snogged Doctor?

I can’t help it if the ladies of the universe are flinging themselves at me, can I?
(BBC Breakfast, 2009)

#37 – About why he is reluctant to do print interviews

Erm, it is slightly controlling of me, I agree but it’s all too easy to become defined by your press cuttings. I’m much happier going on a radio show and talking nonsense for 20 minutes. I’m an actor, after all.
(Arabella Weir interview, 2009)

#36 – Tenth Doctor bonus

“The shoes bring the cool. You wouldn't understand the cool”
(Day Of The Doctor, Deleted Scenes)

#35 – Filming sex scenes

Whatever you might think, filming a sex scene is never an erotic and charged experience, not that Suranne [Jones] isn’t lovely. I wouldn’t wish to be doing it with anyone else! What am I saying? Argh! Those scenes are always a little bit embarrassing to do.
(list.co.uk interview about Single Father, 2009)

#34 – Celebrities who have people tweet for them

Tell them I’m having a cup of tea!!

#33 – What the young David Tennant would think of adult David today

You go into a supermarket and your face is on a cake and underpants. And all that's very odd. It's not what you imagine when you go to drama school, that you'll be commemorated in plastic and icing and cotton. I hope he'd be pleased. He probably wouldn't think I was as good as Tom Baker.
(Under the Radar 2009)

#32 – About the fear of type casting

You can worry about things like that and you can never take a job. Either, you get offered something wonderful like this and you can worry yourself into turning it down, or you can think, 'Well, I'm going to take it and I'm going to see what happens'. I wouldn't have missed this for the world. So, what happens, happens.
(SFX 2006)

#31 – Tenth Doctor bonus

"What's pre-evolutionary France doing in a space ship? have a little perspective, Micky!"
(The Girl In The Fireplace)

#30 – About fame

It comes with the territory. Some days it’s tricky; other days, not at all – and, anyway, who am I to complain about how hard it is to be famous? It’s not.
(Arabella Weir interview, 2009)

#29 – Describing his first encounter with actress Sophia Myles on set

I never got a handshake!! I got a curt nod and ignored for the rest of the day. [sighs] oh yeah, just another pretty girl ignoring me, that’s what I thought!
(Girl In The Fireplace commentary)

#28

I think Shakespeare is one of those things that you get very excited about when you do it and when you love it and when you feel like you own that language.
(Theatre Mania 2012)

#27

No one can teach you what it’s like to be observed in public. I remember, before I was that person, watching well-known people walk into a room - you imbue them with inner confidence and a slightly royal presence. Yet when it’s you, it’s terrifying. People lean over in restaurants and say, ‘Don’t look now, but that’s him off the telly.’ Very peculiar.  I’m not moaning - there’s nothing worse than that, because there are huge advantages - but you feel vulnerable. The world’s perception of you has changed while you remain the same.
(The Press Association interview, 2012)

#26 – Tenth Doctor bonus

"I'm burning up a sun, just to say good bye."
(Doomsday)

#25 – “David, your hair looks stupid”

There's nothing wrong with a plait down a man's back!
(Graham Norton Show, 2013)

#24

I was there too. Every Saturday night in front of the telly, gripped, enraptured, and enthused by this odd, unquantifiable TV show.  There's something about the type of imagination that powers Doctor Who. That sweeps up viewers and inspires them in unexpected ways. Something about its mix about the fantastic and the mundane, the far flung with the domestic that is unlike anything else.

#23

I often stop when I’m doing something, in the middle of rehearsals or some other job, and I try to take a minute to think Okay, this might be as good as it gets, so drink it in, appreciate it now. So far, I’ve been lucky because another job has always come along to equal the last.
(20 Questions with David Tennant, 2003)

#22 - When asked about the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who (in early stages of preparations obviously)

I’m confirming nor denying anything. Twitter nothing! Nothing to do with me!

   
#21 – Tenth Doctor bonus

"Whatever you've got planned, forget it. I'm the Doctor. I'm nine hundred and four years old. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I am the Oncoming Storm, the Bringer of Darkness, and you are basically just a rabbit, aren't you?"
(The Day Of The Doctor)

#20 – Advice for aspiring actors

Doing something new is the point. Every fresh project is a gamble. You draw a deep breath, and ask yourself, ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ and the answer is, ‘That it’s not very good?’ You can’t worry. You do your best, and think, ‘This works for me, at this moment, for whatever reason.’ I just hope I get another job at the end of it.
(Radio Times 2012)

#19

As I may soon discover, people will have expectations of me that it will be impossible to meet. All any of us can do is be true to ourselves to the best of our ability.

#18 – When asked about how comfortable he feels being shirtless in Fright Night

I don’t want you to have to look at my flesh, please! it’s not me making you do this! It’s being forced upon me by those who are our paymaster.
(The Nerdist, 2011)

#17 – David's 'fascination' with astrology

There are get-out clauses everywhere you go. If nothing comes of the predictions, you conveniently forget about it. And the one day of the year when you do meet a tall dark stranger, you say: Oh, Mystic Meg was right. It's absolute nonsense. Were I to do Room 101, astrology would be top of the list.
(Chain Reaction, Radio 4, 2008)

#16 – Tenth Doctor bonus

"I'm the Doctor. I'm a Time Lord. I'm from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation of Kasterborous. I'm nine hundred and three years old and I'm the man who's going to save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below. You got a problem with that?" (Voyage Of The Damned)

#15 – About his attractiveness to a certain group of demographic

How can you think about it? If you started playing to something like that, you'd immediately become unattractive to all these people who apparently find you attractive. It's a mystery to me, but I'm very, very proud of it. 
(SFX 2006)

#14 – David's view on social media

Twitter is like being stalked by the WORLD!
(The Nerdist, 2011)

#13 – Taking on the role of Hamlet

I was terrified. But the terror is part of what makes it such an attractive prospect, because it's Hamlet at the Royal Shakespeare Company, which is where you would want to play Hamlet if you're going to do it. That's exciting, but it's also immediately terrifying because it sets you against all those people who have done it there before. Greg loves to talk about the unbroken line of Hamlet performances that have been passed down through the generations. It's thrilling to think that you are a part of this, but at the same time, it only serves to make you more scared.   
(University of Cambridge interview, 2009)

#12 – David's legacy as the Tenth Doctor

I have such fond memories of watching Doctor Who when I was a kid and growing up, that if I've left anybody anywhere with memories as fond, then I feel like I've done my job.
(Chicago Tribune interview, 2009)

#11 – Tenth Doctor bonus

"Agatha Christie. I was just talking about you the other day. I said, I bet she's brilliant. I'm the Doctor. This is Donna. Oh, I love your stuff. What a mind. You fool me every time. Well, almost every time. Well, once or twice. Well, once. But it was a good once."
(The Unicorn And The Wasp)

#10 - Describing himself

It’s difficult to describe your own personality. I’d say tall, skinny and Scottish. That’s the basic design of me and pretty accurate actually. I’m not painting a pretty picture am I? Shall I lie? I’m devastatingly handsome – honest.
(Metro interview, 2009)

#9 - "What's your favourite episode?"

It always feels wrong to choose favourites. It feels like choosing between children. It's unlike filming any other series, because every story is so different. Every story leaves you with particular memories.
(Chicago Tribune interview, 2009 )

#8 - Acting advice

Just keep going. Keep going and keep surprising yourself, keep having reasons to get up in the morning and keep feeling like you’re getting better and swifter and keener and sharper.
(BuzzMag interview 2013)

#7 - On celebrities and charity

It is a fact that sprinkling a bit of celebrity over certain causes probably can make a difference. And maybe it’s pompous to sit at home thinking that I want to preserve my integrity when, actually, if you waved a wee flag for something, it might make a few quid for a worthy cause.

It’s a balancing act that I find a bit of a struggle, to be honest. Mostly I just muddle through, trying to do the decent thing from moment to moment.

Is it churlish to have the power to influence things and choose not to because you fear being misrepresented? I don’t know. I don’t manage to be consistent about it, anyway. I’m never sure how vain to be.
(Arabella Weir interview, 2009)

#6 – Tenth Doctor bonus

"I’d call you a genius, except I’m in the room."
(The Age Of Steel)

#5 - On his future career

This will probably be the last you hear of me now 
(Scotsman interview, 2005)

#4

I remember, after seeing Jon Pertwee turn into Tom Baker in Doctor Who, having a conversation with my parents at a very young age about actors and what they did. I remember getting the distinction between a character and an actor, as they explained it. I understood what fiction was very clearly – and I always feel uneasy when people talk about children not understanding the difference between fantasy and reality. I can only have been three, and was just enthralled by [Doctor Who]. But I was quite clear that I didn’t want to be a Time Lord – I wanted to be the person who played a Time Lord.
(Arabella Weir interview, 2008)

#3 - On his rising popularity

The moment one is sort of made aware of that sort of thing it feels very… it’s very hard to enjoy because it feels so absurd and unconnected to…how do you make use of it, or how do you channel it, or how do you even feel good about it because…because…you’re patently aware it’s not true.
(The Guardian, 2011)

#2

What a woman looks like means nothing to me - I’m only looking at the twinkle of their soul in the starlight!
(Elle Magazine 2005)

#1 – Tenth Doctor bonus

"I'm a time traveller, I point and laugh at archaeologists" (Silence In The Library)