Appearing as the first guest announcer for the new series of ITV's Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway is Doctor Who star David Tennant. Whilst many of us are quick to recognise him, fewer viewers are aware of his famous family - or his very different real name.
David was born in Scotland in 1971 and his dad was a minister who served as the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. He now has a very famous family with his wife, mother and father-in-law and son also all actors.
The 51-year-old is married to English actress Georgia Tennant, formerly Georgia Moffett. Georgia has also starred in Doctor Who, which is where she and David met in 2008, as well as in The Bill and Merlin.
Georgia is the daughter of actor Pete Davison, who also played The Doctor in Doctor Who from 1981 to 1984, and has starred in much more. His credits include the new BBC drama The Gold, The Larkins, Life and Gentleman Jack.
Sandra Dickinson, Georgia's mum and David's mother-in-law, is also an actress and she has starred in the 2022 film The Batman and the 2018 film Ready Player One. Georgia had her first son, Ty, when she was 17 and David has adopted Ty. Ty follows the line of acting in his family and has starred in War of the Worlds and the Game of Thrones spin-off House of the Dragon.
David Tennant's real name
Something you may not know about David Tennant is that 'David Tennant' is not actually his name. When David first got into acting he had to change his name from his birth name 'David McDonald' because there was already another actor called David McDonald.
David chose the name 'Tennant' as it was the last name of the Pet Shop Boys frontman Neil Tennant who he had seen in Smash Hits magazine while deciding on a new name. Ever since he was three years old David wanted to be an actor, having been inspired by Doctor Who.
Despite his parents encouraging him towards different careers, David has said he was "absurdly single-minded" and set on becoming an actor and watched every Doctor Who episode. His acting career took off when he was younger, with his first professional job in an anti-smoking film made by the Glasgow Health Board when he was just 16.
David Tennant's religion
Speaking to The Guardian David said that Christianity and religion have shaped his character and that he still attends church occasionally. He said: "There's a morality… I think there's a moral compass but whether that comes from religion or just from being a good person, and where one starts and the other begins…"
Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway airs at 7pm on ITV1 on Saturday, February 25.
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