**Updated -- January 3, 2010 5:06 p.m. ET at end.**

“I’m really proud of what we’ve done. It’s difficult to step away from that. But at the same time, well, better to whilst I’m still loving it, better to leave them wanting more.”  -- David Tennant (source)

The Doctor has left the TARDIS.

While, David Tennant’s definitive role as the Time Lord victorious on the BBC’s Doctor Who as the 10th regeneration was “impossibly fortunate,” is his departure from the show at the height of his (and its) popularity incredibly smart or worthy of getting him thrown out of the TARDIS forever?

Earlier in 2009, there was a gigantic buzz surrounding Tennant on whether he was or was not going to attend the world’s biggest Comic-Con in CA to announce, and possibly set to rest, some major rumors surrounding the longest-running Science Fiction television show in history.

According to Tennant, he took a gamble and decided to leave his successful stay on Doctor Who to take a shot at Hollywood in filming the pilot of a brand new television show called Rex is Not Your Lawyer about an oddball lawyer in Chicago who tells his clients how to defend themselves in court.

Is it worth it?

Only time will tell — but a few things are quite obvious when you look at Tennant’s career.

Tennant, together with Russell T. Davies, the show’s producer and chief writer, brought Doctor Who to a whole new level of popularity. From the magazines, to the documentary, to the fan girls (RE: the Utopia and alike “Whogasm”) and fan clubs — the franchise was thrust into a new level of stardom that has yet to peak. But we may or may not see that peak when Matt Smith becomes the 11th Doctor.

As the series, with Tennant at its helm, comes to an end, its ratings are still high, and even across the Atlantic, BBC America is doing very well with all of the holiday specials and other regular serial episodes of the show.

While no one will say Tennant is a terrible actor, because he is anything but that, it’s safe to say that he owes the state of his current career to the show.

It’s visibility granted him screen time with audiences he probably would have never had the opportunity to reach before, and on top of that, it’s visibility made him more recognizable and thus, able  to bag title acting roles in films and on television.

But has he made it? Has he made enough of a presence to step away from something after only four years in order to pursue a seemingly wobbly serial (Rex is Now Your Lawyer — seriously?) an ocean away?

Smart PR?

Tennant has stated that he didn’t want to get bored with Doctor Who, loathing to work and he wanted to leave the series while it was still fresh for him. Interestingly enough, Tennant is considered the “greatest Doctor of all.”  Which begs the question of the true motivation behind his choice to exit and whether or not that decision is wise, regardless.

I say that because the British press is a different beast to the American ones and one would think they would know if people were continuously praising them for months and years on end.

So as the saying goes, why would you cut your nose to spoil your face?

If you’re doing something you love (Tennant even said on the Graham Norton Show [week of November 9, 20009] on numerous occasions that not only was he a Doctor Who fanboy growing up, but he needs the 11th regeneration to be successful so he’ll continue to love it) — why would you stop? Especially, if the ‘passion’ is still there?

Some are calling Tennant’s exit from the show the “end of an era” sure to include many “tears before bedtime.”

In terms of public relations and branding, would I have suggested Tennant to move on so quickly?

Abso-freakin-lutely NOT.

I’ll tell you why — because I think of people like Jennifer Aniston who was huge when her television show Friends was on air. Then she faded into gossip columns (more than before) and literally became a joke. I think of people like Ron Howard who didn’t find success in front of the camera after his show Happy Days was over; he found it behind the camera.

I think of people like Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, who are each widely popular British actors and actresses worldwide, but they kept what they had for themselves going before they decided to jump ship and go across the pond so to speak.

Which brings me full circle to Jack Davenport who played Steve on the original BBC version of Coupling. Davenport went from small screen British television (let’s be honest here, Coupling certainly was not Doctor Who by any comparison in terms of fan base and reach) to the big-screen in the United States holding roles in Pirates of the Caribbean (as Capt. Norrington) and the likes of The Wedding Date, opposite the (then) popular Debra Messings (of Will & Grace).

Jack Davenport seemingly knew what to do and how to do it to flop sides of the pond. The difference between him and Tennant is that Davenport aimed big.

On the same interview with Tennant from the Graham Norton Show (mentioned above), Tennant even said he had to audition for his role and go through typical casting calls for Rex is Not Your Lawyer. This was something he never had to do before. His other roles during his time on Doctor Who were far easier to get.

I hate to say it but I think David Tennant’s going down the Jennifer Aniston route.

Which is very sad, because I would certainly love to see the Time Lord victorious number 10 succeed.

From my POV, he should have stayed on for at least another season, perhaps two. During that time, Tennant should do what Simon Cowell did (and continues to do) for American Idol and his other projects — travel between nations and sets, maintaining the success of one (in the case of Simon, Pop Idol, Britain’s Got Talent etc.,) while, nurturing and building the other (American Idol.)

For Tennant, his “home base” would be Doctor Who and his ‘nurturing’ project would be a career in the United States.

Then again, I could be completely wrong: Matt Smith could blow the Time Lord victorious preceding him out of the water and Tennant could end up on 30 Rock or something and win an Emmy.

What do you think?

Is Tennant’s move from Doctor Who,

to a virgin show in the United States,

a smart, strategic decision,

or incredibly foolish?

The End of Time preview:-

Television Schedule:-

• DOCTOR WHO: THE END OF TIME, PART ONE. 9 p.m. Dec. 26, 2009 on BBC America.
• DOCTOR WHO: THE END OF TIME, PART TWO. 8 p.m., Jan. 2, 2010 on BBC America.

David Tennant on Graham Norton (about 30 mins):-
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

**All Images from DavidTennantFan.com**

UPDATE: January 03, 2010

Well, David, I didn’t want you to go either! grrr.

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Sasha Muradali runs the ‘Little Pink Book’ . She holds a B.S. in Public Relations from the University of Florida with a minor in Dance (’07) and an M.A. in International Administration from the University of Miami(’08). She loves Twitter and all things social media, so you should find her @SashaHalima or get a copy of the ‘Little Pink Book’ delivered to your Kindle.

Copyright © 2009 Sasha H. Muradali. All Rights Reserved.