TVSquad

I've been counting down the days with sadness this year, as we get closer and closer to David Tennant's final foray into space and beyond as The Doctor. And with only a few movies to tide me over, it's even more bittersweet. By the end of the year, he will be gone and replaced by Matt Smith.

But while Doctor Who has to move on without Tennant, another classic will be coming stateside with Tennant in the lead. PBS will be airing the television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's Hamlet with David Tennant as part of its Great Performances series in 2010. Tennant performed as Hamlet live with the Company to great success in 2008.

If that's not enough to get you excited, how about the fact that the cast includes yet another pop culture icon. None other than one of the greatest Starfleet captains in the history of Star Trek: Captain Jean-Luc Picard himself, Patrick Stewart, as King Claudius.

I may be getting a little obsessed. Most of the posts I've written recently have been about the soon-to-be-departing Doctor Who lead David Tennant. I'm also quite disappointed that a lack of time and funds did not permit me to take a trip to England to see Tennant in the RSC production of Hamlet. Thankfully, the BBC has come to the rescue.

For those like me, the BBC is reassembling the cast and filming that production of Hamlet for broadcast in late 2009, with American and Japanese broadcasts to occur in 2010 (I wonder which channel would show it in the States? BBC America? PBS?). To sweeten the deal for us nerds, former Star Trek: The Next Generation captain Patrick Stewart plays Claudius.

Perhaps they'll even let Tennant improvise the role a bit. I would love it if he could throw a little script that Neil Gaiman wrote for him upon hearing of his participation in the role.