Leading appearances in Doctor Who, Harry Potter, Broadchurch and Rivals have meant the British public have become quite used to seeing David Tennant’s angular (yet kind) face and hearing his warbled Scottish tones.
So much so, his face is one of the most well-known in British TV and film. You simply cannot avoid him.
But while we know the creases on his forehead all too well, no one apart from a clandestine network of Tennant-obsessed Redditors have discovered anything unusual about his toes. Until now.
After rumblings appeared in a few dark corners of the web that something was afoot with the 53-year-old’s right trotter, he confirmed to Metro that it does indeed have six toes. You are very welcome.
‘Do people know that?’ we ask, to which David replied: ‘Well, they do now.’
So… Is it the little toe? Does it point out or up? Many questions.
‘It’s sort of like a nubbin,’ David confirms. On the little toe side of his right foot. Cute!
Somehow we doubt David will be getting his lanky appendages out when he takes to the stage on February 16 to host the Bafta Film Awards for the second year running. (Although that would be both memorable and awe-inspiring.)
‘It’s a lovely thing to be asked to do and it’s a huge privilege, and it’s very giddy-making,’ David says.
‘But I’ve sort of got a bit of a free pass, because nobody expects me to be any good at it.’
Humble David was a hit host in 2024 – so let’s hope this year will be no different…
‘It was a slightly mad thing to be asked to do, not something I ever aspired to or imagined would come my way,’ he confesses.
‘When you’re standing on that stage looking out at all the most famous people in the world, you just think: How did I end up doing this?’
In summary, David hopes: ‘I think I just want to not break it again, really.’
As is the host’s duty, the Doctor Who star can’t single out his favourite films of the year, with The Brutalist, Nosferatu, The Substance, Wicked and Wallace & Gromit among those nominated.
‘I am going to remain entirely neutral,’ David says.
He has a similarly diplomatic response when asked – off the back of his masterful portrayal of cruel Tony Baddingham in Rivals – whether he would ever want to play a Bond villain.
‘It would be quite an odd thing to say no to, I think. But you know, I’m not going to encourage headlines by answering that too candidly,’ he teases.
While David has an A-lister tendency to mince his words – fair enough – he is extremely modest for a man with his iMDB.
With two Emmy Awards under his belt, six NTAs and a Bafta, the Harry Potter actor has entertained millions – but admits he fails to have the same effect on his four children.
‘[If I’m in a film] they usually find a reason to switch on to something else, because it takes the joy out, doesn’t it? You don’t want to have boring old dad creeping up on something,’ David says, adding: ‘Although they do quite like Nativity 2.’
Luckily, the Hamlet actor sticks around in the industry not to impress anyone – especially his kids – but to do work that connects with people.
‘I suppose the ultimate goal of any creative industry is to touch people and to make a difference, and to create something that resonates in somebody’s life,’ he says.
David has a nuanced answer when asked for his most meaningful work.
‘If something very entertaining hits someone at a point where they need to be taken out of a dark place, then that can be the most significant thing ever,’ David says.
He added: ‘Things mean different things to all sorts of different people, and can be received very specifically to a moment in someone’s life. So I don’t think you can rank them in that way.’
But he does land on a little known BBC Two show called There She Goes.
‘Creator Shaun Pye wrote about his life. He has a daughter with very severe special needs, and he was very candid, honest and truthful about what it’s like to have a child with that many challenges,’ David explains of the 2018 BBC drama, which has an impressive 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.
‘That’s probably the most profound reaction I’ve had. From parents of children with similar needs who’ve seen their lives in a piece of art in a way that they’ve never seen it reflected before.’
The Bafta Film Awards will air on February 16, 2025 on BBC One.
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