Former ‘Doctor Who’ David Tennant’s Companions Appear in Subtle Reference in ‘Gracepoint’

You can’t take the Doctor out of David Tennant. The Scottish actor is now Detective Emmett Carver in “Gracepoint,” but his companions in “Doctor Who” have made a brief appearance in the show, or at least their names have.

Tennant famously played the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running sci-fi series “Doctor Who” from 2006 to 2008. And even after he has worked on other roles, Whovians still see him as the beloved Time Lord.

That is not to say he isn’t successful in his other roles. In fact, his turn as a detective investigating a boy’s murder in the 2013 drama “Broadchurch” was so well received that he reprised the role, albeit with a different name, in its 2014 U.S. adaptation, “Gracepoint.”

Whovians would be pleased to know that Tennant’s past as the Doctor was able to creep in his most recent role as Detective Emmett Carver in the serious drama program. “Gracepoint” props master Clayton Flagg slipped in “Doctor Who” references in the show, which saw the return of the Tennant’s three main female companions during his turn as the Tenth Doctor.

The references were not easy to spot, though. If not for “Gracepoint” creator Chris Chibnall’s tweet, in which he posted a photo of Carver’s phone messages, the “Doctor Who” mention would be nearly impossible to detect. Chibnall posted the photo in November, though it has just recently been picked up by the media.

Click here for the photo.

The photo sees three pink notes from callers for Carver. The names of the callers are Martha Jones, D. Noble and R. Tyler. For non-“Doctor Who” fans, the names appeared to be random, but Whovians knew better. Those are the names of the Doctor’s main female companions during Tennant’s time in the Tardis.

R. Tyler stands for Rose Tyler, the Doctor’s first companion following the series’ revival in 2005. She was played by Billie Piper. Martha Jones replaced Rose in the 2007 seasons, and was played by Freema Agyeman. D. Noble is Donna Noble, played by Catherine Tate.

The messages on each note are also references to the episodes or main issues in the show. Martha’s message reads, “Has information about Sally Sparrow,” referring to guest star Carey Mulligan’s character in the critically acclaim third series episode “Blink.”

Donna’s message for Carver is “Information regarding the library,” referring to the two-parter episodes “Silence in the Library” and “Forest of the Dead,” in which the Doctor met for the first time his future wife River Song. Rose’s message is “Something regarding a wolf?” which refers to Bad Wolf, Rose’s temporary entity.

Even the tick boxes in the messages remind fans of the characters and their fate in the show. They all telephoned, with Martha asking to return her call. Rose’s message is urgent, and says she wants to see him.

Back to “Gracepoint,” the critically praised but still often unfavourably compared to “Broadchurch” has just concluded. Fox announced on Monday that, unlike “Broadchurch,” the show will not be renewed for a second season.