DAVID TENNANT, the Scottish star of the Casanova romp on BBC Three, is the corporation’s choice to become the tenth Doctor Who after the sudden departure of Christopher Eccleston.

Tennant, 33, played the lothario in the BBC drama written by Russell T. Davies, who is also lead writer on the acclaimed new Doctor Who.

From Bathgate, West Lothian, Tennant previously took a lead role in the BBC One musical drama Blackpool, appeared in the Stephen Fry movie Bright Young Things and on stage in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Romeo and Juliet.

A BBC insider said: “Tennant was the only name in the frame to take over. It is a matter of agreeing terms with his agent at this stage.”

A long-time fan of Doctor Who, Tennant voiced a role in an internet episode, Scream of the Shalka, in 2003 and claims that his earliest memory was of seeing the Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee regenerate into Tom Baker. The BBC wants Tennant in place to shoot a “regeneration” scene at the climax of the 13th and final episode of the revived sciencefiction classic.

He is then expected to make his first appearance as the Doctor in a Christmas special, in which he will team up with Billie Piper, who plays his assistant, Rose.

The BBC wants to secure Tennant for the high-profile role before his film career takes off. He is playing the part of Barty Crouch Jr in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which will be released this autumn.

A second series of Doctor Who has been commissioned after ten million viewers tuned in to last week’s launch episode. But Eccleston, who has turned down numerous film roles to play the Doctor, said that he did not want to get typecast in the role.

Although Eccleston wants to continue mixing commerical with “art-house” films, not all Doctor Whos have been cursed by their association with the role.

Peter Davison has enjoyed numerous screen roles since, including the hit ITV series At Home With The Braithwaites, while Tom Baker is perhaps best known to a new generation as the narrator of Little Britain.

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