Does this young actor have a future role as Doctor Who‘s title character in his destiny? In 2020, Doctor Who‘s regeneration gimmick is far from a novel concept, but in the 1960s, the idea of William Hartnell’s character transferring into a brand new actor was revolutionary. Introducing Time Lord regeneration ensured Doctor Who would continue for generations to come, and even though the Timeless Child has upended that long-established lore, The Doctor remains an iconic role that all manner of actors can fill. Currently, Jodie Whittaker portrays the Thirteenth Doctor (ignoring anomalies) and this too proved a landmark moment, as Whittaker became the first woman piloting the TARDIS.

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Thankfully, there’s no time frame on Whittaker’s Doctor Who departure at the time of writing. Even though the science fiction series has proved divisive under Chris Chibnall’s stewardship, Whittaker herself has been widely praised and could continue for years to come. Inevitably, however, Whittaker will one day hang up her braces and a new actor or actress will step into the role. Following Doctor Who season 12, some have suggested this could be Jo Martin. Although Chibnall claims “Ruth” is a pre-Hartnell Doctor, there is evidence to suggest she’s actually Whittaker’s successor and the Fourteenth Doctor. But whoever steps into the TARDIS after Whittaker, there is already a strong contender for the role of Fifteenth Doctor.

In 2008, season 4’s “The Doctor’s Daughter” starred David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor alongside guest star Georgia Moffett, who is the real life daughter of Peter Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor. The pair’s chemistry extended beyond the screen and the couple married in 2011, with Tennant officially adopting Georgia’s son, Ty. Now 18 years-old, Ty Tennant is a budding actor in his own right and has appeared in the 2019 Tolkien movie and the recent War of the Worlds Fox miniseries. As the grandson of the Fifth Doctor and the son of the Tenth, Ty Tennant being cast as the future Fifteenth Doctor would create a fun and poignant family lineage throughout the several eras of Doctor Who.

It should be said that Ty Tennant is already one of the most promising young actors in Britain and certainly wouldn’t be getting the Doctor Who gig purely based on his relatives. But it’s impossible to deny that Ty’s family history with Doctor Who, combined with the fact his parents met on the TV series, would add an extra dimension to his potential casting as The Doctor – a sense of fate and legacy that most TV shows don’t last long enough to explore. Even more serendipitous is that by the time Doctor Who comes around to casting its Fifteenth Doctor (approximately 2027 at the current regeneration rate) Ty Tennant would be roughly the same age as Matt Smith when he was first announced as the Eleventh Doctor, and this would create the mathematically satisfying 5, 10, 15 progression.

It could be said that casting a previous Doctor’s son as a new regeneration would be simple nepotism, or at the very least casting an actor for the wrong reasons. The validity of that criticism will depend entirely on the trajectory of Ty Tennant’s career over the next few years, and how the young actor capitalizes on his early buzz. Even so, many Doctor Who fans, especially those from the Davison era, would surely be intrigued to see the family connections continue from 1982 into the 2020s.

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Doctor Who returns with “Revolution of the Daleks” this Christmas on BBC.

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About The Author


Craig Elvy
(3630 Articles Published)

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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