Harry Potter: Who Did David Tennant Play & Where You've Seen Him Before
In "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," the fourth book and film in the franchise originally penned by Joanne Rowling, the central mystery focuses around the Triwizard Tournament — and specifically, why Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is competing. Though he's too young to enter his name into the Goblet, which chooses champions from three wizarding schools, Harry ends up named the second Hogwarts player alongside Cedric Diggory (Robert Pattinson), stirring up controversy and putting him into terrifying and dangerous situations. Along the way, Harry finds himself seeking guidance from his Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (Brendan Gleeson), although it turns out that it's not actually Moody at all... but Bartemius Crouch Jr. using Polyjuice Potion to infiltrate Hogwarts.
The son of a powerful Ministry official with whom he shares a name, Barty Crouch Jr. is played by David Tennant — and though he's not revealed until later in the film, Tennant makes the most of his limited time on-screen. As it turns out, Barty Crouch Jr. imprisoned and impersonated Moody throughout the year on Voldemort's (Ralph Fiennes) orders; as one of the Dark Lord's most loyal Death Eaters, he risked everything, as a convicted wizarding felon, to sneak into Hogwarts and bring Harry to Voldemort to help his master return to full power. So where have you seen Tennant before?
David Tennant played this iconic British role for several seasons
Tennant's most famous role is probably his turn as the Tenth Doctor on the revival of the iconic British series "Doctor Who," which began its run all the way back in 1963 and ended in 1989. In 2005, the series was revived, and after Christopher Eccleston briefly played the ninth incarnation of the time-traveling Doctor, Tennant took up the mantle as the first season moved into the second. Tennant then played the Doctor for several years until he passed the torch to Matt Smith in 2010, though he did briefly return in both 2013 and 2022 for various specials.
Amongst the modern Doctors, Tennant proved to be a huge fan favorite, often ranking just below the universally beloved Fourth Doctor played by Peter Baker. Alongside his human companions — Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), and Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), respectively — Tennant's Doctor was delightfully quirky and deeply emotional at the same time, leading some of the series' all-time best episodes (like the standalone installment "Blink"). There are plenty of "Doctor Who" fans out there who think of Tennant when they think of the Doctor, which is a testament to just how great his performance was on the series — and since he's returned twice, he might end up coming back for more specials going forward.
Broadchurch was a total heel-turn for David Tennant
Intense British crime dramas set in small, sleepy towns are a dime a dozen, but few are as undeniably great as "Broadchurch." The first season, which aired in 2013 on ITV, stars Tennant as Detective Inspector Alec Hardy, who has to work alongside Detective Sergeant Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) to solve the murder of a young boy. With a stacked cast that includes future "Game of Thrones" stars David Bradley and Jacob Anderson, eventual "Bridgerton" breakout Jonathan Bailey, and even a later Doctor, Jodie Whitaker, Tennant and Colman shine in the series' two lead roles as their characters try to uncover who killed eleven-year-old Danny Latimer (Oskar McNamara).
Tennant and Colman both returned for the second and third seasons — which, while good, weren't quite as hard-hitting as the debut season — but only Tennant had to suffer the indignity that was "Gracepoint." In the 2014 American remake of "Broadchurch" titled "Gracepoint," Tennant returned, this time as Detective Emmett Carver... while "Breaking Bad" star Anna Gunn, confusingly, played his partner who's also named Ellie Miller. Perhaps worst of all, Tennant did an American accent for the role. "Gracepoint" is a pretty rough series no matter what, but it's especially egregious when you compare it to the glory of Season 1 of "Broadchurch."
David Tennant was a terrifying villain in Jessica Jones
Marvel villains range from absolutely terrifying to borderline silly, but Tennant's Kilgrave definitely lands on the "terrifying" end of that wide spectrum. Kilgrave serves as the main antagonist in Season 1 of Marvel's "Jessica Jones" adaptation, which stars Krysten Ritter as the titular superhero and private investigator. Picking up after Jessica's abuse at the hands of Kilgrave, Season 1 watches as Jessica grapples with her own post-traumatic stress disorder and hunts Kilgrave, whose villainous power is nothing short of horrifying. See, Kilgrave can make anyone do absolutely anything with a simple order, and they physically can't disobey... even if he orders people to hurt themselves or others.
The most insidious part of Jessica's treatment at Kilgrave's hands, though, is that he's managed to convince himself that the two had a consensual relationship, even though she was unable to consent to anything at all thanks to his powers. Ultimately, he made her commit murder, which finally pushed her to find the strength to escape him. When Jessica snaps Kilgrave's neck in the Season 1 finale after he orders her to say "I love you" to him — a sentiment she directs at her best friend Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor) instead — it's deeply satisfying, but it's also a little bittersweet, only because Kilgrave is one of Marvel's most complex and captivating villains.
Good Omens lets David Tennant access his silly side
Based on the best-selling novel authored by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, "Good Omens," an original series for Amazon, is the first of two collaborations between Tennant and fellow Brit Michael Sheen. In the series, Tennant plays Crowley, a demon, while Sheen portrays the angel Aziraphale, who form an agreement to work together despite coming from opposing factions in Heaven and Hell. When Earth is threatened by an apocalypse in Season 1, the two end up working together to deal with the Antichrist, which takes the form of a young boy named Adam Young (Sam Taylor Buck). Season 2 introduces the Archangel Gabriel, played by Jon Hamm, who shows up without any memories — and who's also being hunted by both Heaven and Hell.
Beyond its two seasons, "Good Omens" has dabbled in mini-episodes too, including one where Crowley and Aziraphale vent about the real-life COVID-19 pandemic and a handful where the duo works together throughout different periods in human history. Sheen and Tennant have fantastic chemistry as a pair, which makes it all the more satisfying that they reunited for another project alongside "Good Omens."
Staged is a passion project for David Tennant and Michael Sheen
The fact that everybody ended up locked down in their homes for months after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, inexplicably, led to some creative projects, from the Zoom-based horror movie "Host" to a full "Parks and Recreation" reunion that imagined how all of the characters would handle quarantine. "Staged," a Britbox and BBC series, has Sheen and Tennant playing fictionalized versions of themselves. In Season 1, under the haphazard direction of their colleague Simon (Simon Evans, who really directed the show), the two try and rehearse for a production of "Six Characters in Search of an Author" by Luigi Pirandello, and it doesn't go particularly well.
In a clever, meta twist, Season 2 sees the series become so huge that it's getting an American adaptation... except the new producers don't want to cast Sheen and Tennant. The third and final season, which aired in the fall of 2022, watches as Sheen and Tennant return to "Six Characters in Search of an Author" as well as "A Christmas Carol," at which point the whole thing pivots to a documentary about "Staged" itself. Guest stars include huge British names like Dame Judi Dench, Tennant's "Broadchurch" co-star Olivia Colman, Simon Pegg, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Neil Gaiman — so if you haven't checked out "Staged" yet, you'll want to add it to your queue.