Still our favourite Doctor. Picture: (Picture: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Since Peter Capaldi was revealed two Sundays ago as the actor cast to succeed Matt Smith as Doctor Twelve, eBay has reported a surge in sales for Doctor Who memorabilia. But surprisingly, one man comes out on top: David Tennant. He is the best selling Doctor on eBay. Why is he still so popular?

Timelord Victorious

It seems impossible to imagine now, but when it was announced that Russell T Davies would resurrect Doctor Who on Saturday nights back in 2005 there was a real risk that it might flop. That’s why Christopher Eccleston had such a tricky job.

We know now that it worked, Doctor Who was back and so David Tennant came to the role with a fair wind and on a high. With Tennant all focus was on the Doctor, but a season before, the challenge was to resurrect the show and its myths and with only one season we didn’t get to know Eccleston’s Doctor all that well.




The genius of RTD

Russell T Davies loved Doctor Who and he distilled the best of his ideas and passion in David Tennant’s Doctor. It’s often said that sometimes RTD’s adventures were not among the best, he sometimes wrote a humdinger, but when it came to crafting and elevating the Who myth, there’s no one in the Whoniverse who can create adventures with such emotion, drama and humour.

Sweet Rose

We said goodbye to Doctor Nine and Rose Tyler wasn’t happy. He wanted her warrior in a leather jacket back. The Tardis companion acts as a proxy for the audience and we knew Rose Tyler so well (brilliantly played by Billie Piper) when Who Ten arrived. And as the new Doctor tried to win over Rose, he was wooing the viewer. There has never been a more bittersweet relationship between a Doctor and companion. And if Rose loved him, we had to love him too.

My Doctor

You always love the Doctor you grow up with. It was ever thus. And that’s why Tennant has such a head-start over other timelords. He was ‘my Doctor’ to a whole cohort of kids who will always call him their favourite. Call it the Tom Baker effect, if you like. You can’t fight it. And he didn’t want to go.

Our David

And it just doesn’t hurt that David Tennant is just a splendid bloke, tremendous fun and just more than a bit fanciable. Both fragile and heroic, with great hair. Great hair. So many people still love David Tennant because he is so effortlessly lovable. And sexy too. Not something you say about most Doctor Who actors.