The actor undergoes a radical transformation to play Alexander Litvinenko, the poisoned Russian dissident.
Updated 09/12/22: David Tennant talks about Litvinenko and his Doctor Who comeback on This Morning.
With Litvinenko due to land on ITVX next week, David Tennant has appeared on daytime TV to promote the show. He talked about the background to the show and the desire to do justice to Alexander Litvinenko, his family and his story.
Naturally, while talking to Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby, the conversation turned to Doctor Who (around the six-minute mark) and his recent return to the show as the Fourteenth Doctor.
However, Tennant is an old hand at this and managed to give very little away – save for the fact that he’d had a little trepidation about returning and not being able to run as fast as he used to!
He shut down further chat with the following:
“We had a lovely time. Russell T Davies is back running the show, it felt like we’d never been away… That’s all you’re getting!”
Litvinenko arrives on ITVX as a boxset on Thursday 15th December. There’s a longer wait for Doctor Who however, the show returns for a trio of 60th Anniversary Specials in November 2023.
Original article follows…
Litvinenko – trailer for David Tennant’s new ITVX drama
The actor undergoes a radical transformation to play Alexander Litvinenko, the poisoned Russian dissident.
With its launch on ITVX on December 15th, there’s now a trailer abroad for Litvinenko.
The drama, which tells the real-life story of the investigation into the 2006 poisoning and subsequent death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko, stars David Tennant in the lead role. It also goes on to chronicle the struggle of Litvinenko’s wife Marina as she pushed the British Government into publicly naming his killers.
Interestingly, it seems that we have David Tennant to thank for the project’s survival through the Covid pandemic. In a recent Radio Times piece, co-producer Richard Kerbaj reveals that the star “saved the show”, saying:
“David Tennant saved our show. You will get a lot of people praising his exceptional performance as Alexander Litvinenko. It lives up to his high standards. But what he did for the show is much greater than play that part.”
“He saved our show because it was commissioned a few months before COVID hit. We were then on the rocks for a little while wondering if we would ever be able to film this. Had David Tennant decided not to stay involved, I’m not sure if the drama would have been made.”
A passion project
Tennant’s commitment to Litvinenko apparently began early, Kerbaj also says, with the actor apparently determined to tell this story:
“David Tennant has done something extraordinary for [Marina Litvinenko]. Because so many people had promised to tell her husband’s story in a drama and no one did it. David is beyond an actor. He is exceptional on screen. But his even greater contribution was through the way he connected with Marina and the project and saved it during COVID.”
Joining David Tennant in the show are Mark Bonnar and Neil Maskell as the Scotland Yard detectives Clive Timmons and Brent Hyatt. Margarita Levieva (The Blacklist) plays Maria Litvinenko.
Litvinenko arrives on ITVX as a boxset on Thursday 15th December.