David Tennant says the new Doctor Who’s gender will be "irrelevant almost immediately".
The 46-year-old actor – who portrayed the 10th Time Lord from 2005 until 2010 – is adamant that fans of the popular BBC sci-fi series will soon forget Jodie Whittaker’s sex as soon as she hits the small screen as the first female to ever portray the alien.
Speaking to Stephen Colbert on ‘The Late Show’ on Wednesday (09.08.17), David said: ‘"Sure, Jodie is from a different gender than anyone who’s gone before, but that will be irrelevant almost immediately when she takes the part.
"The Doctor can be whatever he needs to be. It’s about finding the right performer at the right time – and that’s Jodie without a doubt."
David, who starred alongside Jodie in ITV’s ‘Broadchurch’, says the ‘Doctor Who’ fans can get defensive about the character because they love the show so much.
He said: "Do you know, whenever the Doctor changes there’s a backlash, because that’s a character people love.
"So people get very affectionate about the Doctor they knew."
The Scottish hunk says that even when he took over from Christopher Eccleston in 2005 he received similar backlash to Jodie ,35, because viewers get over "enthusiastic" and he said a lot of people thought he was too "weaselly-looking" to take on such an iconic role.
Asked if he too experienced such a big divide in opinion of the job, he said: "Oh, sure! They were like ‘Who’s the weaselly-looking guy? Who’s this? I like the last guy. "This is not gonna work for me – this show is dead to me. I resign from the internet. Send!
"There was a lot of that. And that happens every time, and that’s because it’s a show that has a lot on enthusiastic followers."
David previously heaped praise on Jodie’s new role as the time traveller, hailing her a "strong female lead".
David Tennant: Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who gender will be irrelevant
