There's a long and proud tradition of Doctor Who actors cashing in on the role in commercials — including Tom Baker's totally nutso Prime Computer ads. But now, the BBC are upset about David Tennant's new TiVo ad, which you can watch above. At least, that's what the ever-reliable British tabloid the Mirror is reporting.


It's true that Tennant is spoofing his science fiction chops in the ad, and it features Richard Branson tinkering with his Virgin time machine — and ultimately rejuvenating himself. But I'm not sure I see the explicit Doctor Who connection. In any case, the BBC has asked Virgin, which runs the TiVo service in the U.K., to suspend the ad, saying "Virgin did not run this advert past us and if they had, it probably would have been turned down."

What do you think? An explicit Doctor Who nod? Or just a vague hand-wave, featuring an actor who's done lots of awesome stuff? [The Mirror]