David Tennant prevented JK Rowling from appearing on Doctor Who years ago

Doctor Who and Good Omens star David Tennant’s current beef with J.K. Rowling over her attacks on trans people has made headlines as of late. But only recently, it came to light that Tennant actually prevented the famous TERF from starring in a Doctor Who episode years before her transphobia was common knowledge.

The Daily Record reported back in 2008 that he “scuppered” a plan to have the Harry Potter creator appear in a Christmas special set in 1800s London.

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies had wanted to top the previous special, Voyage of the Damned, where Kylie Minogue was aboard a spaceship that was ominously named Titanic.

The plot consisted of Rowling’s imagination coming to life in a snow-covered world, where The Doctor had to battle witches and wizards. Tennant, however, had thought that this would have appeared too much like satire.

Related

This athlete just shut down JK Rowling with one word

Like Khelif, Petrillo is not letting a bully tarnish her achievement.

Entertainment with an edge

Whether you’re into indie comics, groundbreaking music, or queer cinema, we’re here to keep you in the loop twice a week.

“He thinks it sounds like a spoof, so we’ve paused slightly, wondering whether to win him round or just abandon something that he’s not going to be happy with. We’ve got to keep him happy, he keeps us happy,” Davies told the Daily Record at the time.

Tennant, since then, has not been on good terms with Rowling. She accused him of being part of a “gender Taliban,” while he said trans people should have “the right to be who they want to be… as long as they’re not harming anyone.”

At the British LGBT awards, he said then equalities minister Kemi Badenoch needs to “shut up” for her anti-trans views, and that anyone who opposes trans people are “a tiny bunch of little whinging f**kers who are on the wrong side of history” who would “all go away soon.”