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First pictures of Dr Who's David Tennant as Hamlet
Updated 10:05am on 4 Aug 2008
The long coat has gone and so has his trusty sidekick - Doctor Who actor David Tennant is pictured here treading the boards having temporarily given up time travel to star in a classic Shakespearean role.
The actor is playing Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and as these dress rehearsal pictures reveal, he has donned a grubby parka and a woolly hat in a modern take of the play.
Some directors have criticised the RSC for allowing a 'celebrity' to play one of the most difficult Shakespearean roles, but Tennant, 37, started out as a stage actor, working with the RSC on a number of occasions - mainly in comic roles.
Hamlet takes a thoroughly modern twist as David Tennant rehearses in parka and woolly hat for the role in Stratford-upon-Avon
The production is guaranteed to bea commercial success with huge demand for tickets, however, Doctor Who fans hoping to get an autograph of Tennant at the stage door have been banned from bringing merchandise from the TV show
Producers of the Stratford-Upon-Avon production have strictly forbidden Doctor Who memorabilia from being signed.
The RSC has said that only its memorabilia can be signed by Tennant and co-star Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame who plays Claudius.
Contemplation: The actor has described the role as 'testing'
Claudius, played by Patrick Stewart, prays desperately for his soul while Hamlet decides what to do next
Tennant has said of appearing in the tragedy: 'Hamlet is often regarded as the acme of acting to test yourself against, which isn't a particularly helpful thought, to be honest.
'Of course it is flattering to be asked to that role because of everything attached to it.
'But once you get into rehearsal you have to relinquish thoughts like that and just try and tell the story.'
The production will run in rep at the Courtyard Theatre in Stratford until November 15 2008 before moving to London.
The woolly hat is gone: Tennant alongside Mariah Gale's Ophelia
The play has seen a huge demand for tickets despite some criticism for its 'celebrity' casting
