The Many Talents of David Tennant

Image result for david tennant poster good omensIf you haven’t been on any device with ads for the last few months then you probably won’t be familiar with David Tennant’s smirking face as he embodies the demon Crowley in the latest book to TV adaptation: Good Omens by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman. If you’ve logged onto anything within the last few months, then you’ll realize that Amazon sunk some serious money into promoting the crap out of this series. Which paid off in my case because I finished the whole six-episode romp through doomsday in less than 24-hours. But just in case you haven’t heard of David Tennant and haven’t caught him in some his out-of-mainstream roles, I’m here to let you know that he’s super talented and has been in some of my favorite things from the last 5-10 years.

David Tennant is probably best known to American audiences as being the 10th Doctor in the Doctor Who series and as that one guy who tries and fails to kill Harry Potter in the Goblet of Fire, Barty Crouch Jr. But he’s also made a play for American hearts and minds in the latest Marvel/Netflix collaboration series: Jessica Jones

Not only is this series haunting and a newer take on the superhero genre, but Tennant delivers a tour de force performance as mind-controlling Kilgrave. Tennant creates the perfect sociopath, control freak that wreaks havoc on Jessica’s life and also chillingly portrays what happens when someone with no morals has all of the power over another human being. Released just prior to the #MeToo movement, the horrors that Jessica experiences under Kilgrave’s control struck a chord with me in regards to the power he wields over her without conscience or care. Unlike Good Omens, Jessica Jones has already hit DVD, so we’ve got it if you’re ready to jump in.

Tennant also brings his acting chops to Broadchurch which is another series that you should probably get to binging if you haven’t already. I’m less likely to pick up anything crime or mystery or detective-y than any other genre of TV show. Other than certain exceptions like Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries or the occasional episode of Law & Order: SVU, I am not a fan of the crime genre wave that has hit television. Broadchurch is another one of those exceptions. I devoured this show. Instead of taking the tack of solving one crime per episode, Broadchurch spends a whole season investigating one crime. Backed up by Olivia Coleman, Tennant’s broody Alec Hardy is an outsider in a seaside English town struggling with his own set of baggage while trying to solve a mystery that is ripping the town apart. Full of twists and cliffhangers, I was thoroughly engrossed in Broadchurch and was lucky enough to find it on Netflix after the first season had been released and binged the heck out of it.

Alright, you’re probably looking at this article and going “this article says ‘many talents’ and so far all you have talked about is acting. We get it, he’s an actor.” BUT did you also know that David Tennant narrates audiobooks?!?! And that they are the most delightful narrations I have listened to post Jim Dale’s Harry Potter masterpieces. I’m not going to touch the How to Train Your Dragon audiobook controversy (they switched narrators halfway through the series so there's a pro-Tennant and anti-Tennant camp since he took over), but I do want to let everyone who reads this blog that the audiobooks for The Wizards of Once and Twice Magic are utterly superb and that if you’re looking for a magical, family friendly book to listen to on a road trip then they are the books for you. Not only does Tennant do a great job of portraying a range of characters, but he sings! It’s perfection! Even as a 29-year-old adult woman, I found them completely charming. So don’t write them off even if you’re an adult human like me! So there you have it David Tennant. He can act, he can sing, he can narrate audiobooks in such a charming way that you will listen to a book written for children and hang on to every word.

-Lauren Taylor is a Youth Services Assistant at Lawrence Public Library.