Interview: David Tennant, actor

FOR a while it seemed as though David Tennant was never off the television. Yet since he cast off the three-piece suit and baseball boots of his Doctor Who incarnation, the small screen has seemed somewhat empty without the Bathgate-born star.

That will change this weekend when the 39-year-old makes his return in a more subdued role, in the special effects-free drama, Single Father.

Tennant plays the eponymous dad, who faces the tough challenge of bringing up four kids – and a dog – on his own after his wife is killed in a road traffic accident.

It's a scenario which is as far removed from his own life as any of those in which he was entangled as the Doctor. Which is why he jumped at the chance to play photographer Dave, who also happens to fall in love with his wife's best friend as he gets to grips with his grief.

That, and the fact it was being filmed in Scotland.

"I played a dad in Recovery years ago but in Single Father I have lots of kids – Dave's got a brood of them. That was new for me and to work that closely for that length of time with so many kids was also new for me," he says.

"And it was just one of those scripts that arrived fully formed. The way it talks about family life and the way that Mick Ford (the writer] draws the characters of the kids is just so beautifully done. It's funny, true and clever. I've been fortunate to have experienced that a couple of times before but really it's so rare. When those gems arrive you just have to say 'yes'.

"The story is surprisingly accessible – whether you have kids or not it's very recognisable. It feels very human and very real and the characters are so beautifully drawn in the script and I think we were extremely fortunate with the cast, which just means they've created this perfect little world. All the quirks of family life are there. And it always great to be back in Scotland. So it was lovely to stay for an extended period during filming, not least because I managed to have access to my own family."

According to its writer Single Father is "about the mess of family life today", and Tennant is aware that, given the drama's initial premise, it could be seen as another tear-jerker, but he believes the writing lifts it above sentimentality.

"Because of the subject matter it's inevitably a very emotional piece. But what's beautiful about this script is how, at times, it's brutally unsentimental," says Tennant.

"Rather than seeing the characters weeping and wailing we catch up with them ten weeks later, just as life is about to kick in. We rejoin just as events are starting to return to 'normal'.It's a time when everyone's trying to move on but it's simply not that easy.

"Dave's a loving bloke who's committed to his family and works hard.

Life just happens to him in a way that none of us ever imagine it could. He's thrown into a situation he could never have conceived of and it's all just about coping and being a father." In the play Dave copes, partly, by becoming increasingly close to his wife's friend Sarah, played by Suranne Jones. "I think everything comes as a shock to Dave in this drama," says Tennant.

"Things get complicated for Dave when he starts to develop feelings for Sarah and then, of course, he discovers secrets from Rita's past. He goes through these incredible sea changes of emotions very quickly.

He's forced to keep up with his life, everything is outside his control.

"And all the time, of course, he's trying to be a good father trying to get it right but, true to life, he's tripped up by his own lack of objectivity."

While it's the first time Tennant has worked with Suranne Jones, it's the third time he's teamed up with Glasgow actress Laura Fraser, who plays Rita.

"We'd worked together twice before on Casanova and He Knew He Was Right. That proved to be quite a useful dynamic because Suranne was someone I knew less well who became a huge part of my life during filming and that's very much the way Dave and Sarah grow together.

"Suranne is so easy to be around – she's so lovely, easy and funny to spend time with. That all worked out rather well I thought."

While Single Father plays out over four episodes it could be the last television appearance by Tennant for some time as he's now concentrating on more film roles.

He has already filmed The Decoy Bride which is due to be released early next year, and is also in the middle of filming a new version of the 1985 horror Fright Night, which should hit cinemas in a year's time.

"I'm playing a character called Peter Vincent, who's a Las Vegas illusionist who also happens to be an expert on vampires. And, as well as some acting, I've spent a lot of time being sewn into very tight costumes!"

For a man who this month also made Glamour magazine's Best Dressed Brits list at no 24, that sounds right up his street.

Single Father, BBC One, tomorrow, 9pm