Invasion of the Elsinore princes

And Shakespeare himself is newly, wildly popular again thanks to Patrick Stewart's West End Macbeth, the RSC's own King Lear with Ian McKellen, and Chiwetel Ejiofor's magnificent Othello at London's Donmar Warehouse.

Doran is also pipping two more high-profile Hamlets to the post: Sam Mendes's long-planned production, starring Stephen Dillane as the prince, and Michael Grandage's with Jude Law – for the Donmar's forthcoming residency in London's West End – are both scheduled for 2009.

Greatest of all the advantages Doran enjoys, though, is that he has David Tennant in the lead – an actor whose Shakespearean triumphs in 1996 and 2000 with the RSC pale into virtual insignificance beside his performance as the nation's favourite Time Lord in Doctor Who. As Doran himself puts it: "David will bring a whole generation of young audience members with him to Stratford for Hamlet, who might not otherwise have come."

It should be no surprise that Tennant wants, for a while at least, to set down his sonic screwdriver and pull on Hamlet's inky cloak. The role is as dramatic and demanding, and as illuminating of the human condition, as King Lear. It is as challenging for a young actor as Lear is for an older one. And as with Lear, there is always the chance that by the time you are mature enough to play it, you are too old to play it.

When he takes to the stage of the Courtyard Theatre in July, Tennant will be a young-looking 37, and most estimates put Hamlet at 33, so he couldn't afford to miss this chance.

In 2004, Toby Stephens told me of his worries that his RSC Hamlet that year would be overshadowed by Ben Whishaw's earlier, preternaturally young reading of the role for Trevor Nunn at the Old Vic.

But although iconic Hamlets loom large, productions tend to arrive not singly but in battalions. The early 1960s saw a slew of them: Ian Bannen, Richard Burton, Peter O'Toole, David Warner. Back in 1989 Mark Rylance's near-definitive performance was unfairly eclipsed by the breakdown Daniel Day-Lewis suffered while playing the same part at the National (he reportedly saw his own dead father, the poet Cecil Day-Lewis, as the ghost of Hamlet's father).

Pity poor Daniel Webb, who was playing a creditable prince for Russian maestro Yuri Lyubimov down the road at the Old Vic, at the same time, and who therefore barely got a look in. In 2000 Adrian Lester, Simon Russell Beale and Rylance (again) took the part.

By the time Tennant's Hamlet makes its transfer to London after the Stratford run ends, he will be within soliloquising distance of Law and Dillane. And our expectation of these performances is sharpened by a sense of competition. Who will be the greatest Dane?

Doran enjoys the advantage of being first out of the gate. He also enjoys the advantage of having an ensemble company who will perform not only Hamlet, but also Love's Labour's Lost and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and who will benefit from the close inter-relationship and variety such an arrangement brings.

Tennant himself will twin Hamlet with Berowne in Love's Labour's, while his Claudius in Hamlet will be that other screen star with a Shakespearean pedigree, Patrick Stewart.

It's too early to expect Tennant to have an idea of how he will play Hamlet, or for Doran to comment on the look and setting of his production. But the director is certain of both the appeal and the ability of his leading man (the two are friends, having worked together on Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound and Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy).

"David Tennant's talent as a Shakespearean actor became immediately apparent when he cracked the difficult comic role of Touchstone in Stephen Pimlott's As You Like It," says Doran. "Shakespeare's clowns are really hard to pull off. He then went on to broaden that scope with Edgar in King Lear at Manchester, and Romeo for Michael Boyd in 2000 alongside Antipholus in Comedy of Errors, both for the RSC. The combination of Hamlet and Berowne really suits his considerable range of talents and I am thrilled that we have been able to make this work. His combination of a great ability to juggle with words, his wonderful comedic skills, and searing intelligence will stand him in good stead in tackling the role they say lies in wait for every great actor."

Dillane will surely be watching with bated breath.

David Tennant's Hamlet will be at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon from 24 July. Tel: 0844 800 1110 or visit www.rsc.org.uk for more info.