‘Doctor Who’ Star Is Unrecognizable After Transformation for Next Role

Doctor Who star David Tennant is set to play real-life journalist Nick Davies in the upcoming ITV series The Hack, and his transformation for the role leaves him unrecognizable.

Tennant, 54, appeared in first-look photos for ITV’s phone hacking drama with a completely new look. His hair was grayed, giving Tennant an aged look, in photos shared by Deadline.

The Hack is based on a true story based on the investigation into a major phone hacking saga at Rupert Murdoch’s defunct British tabloid, News of the World.

“Set between 2002 and 2012, The Hack interweaves two real life stories, the work of Davies, who uncovered evidence of phone hacking at Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World, and the story of the investigation into the unsolved murder of private investigator Daniel Morgan, led by former Met Police Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Cook [played by Robert Carlyle],” Deadline reported. According to the outlet, The Hack was previously titled Broken News and Mandrake, before landing on its official name.

The Harry Potter star previously referred to the upcoming role as “very intense.”

“Just because there’s a lot of quite complicated information in that,” he said during an appearance on the “Off Menu” podcast. “I’m playing a journalist who sort of broke the case open, and there’s just a lot of quite technical stuff. And obviously you have to be very specific on that because there’s a lot of lawyers watching to make sure you don’t say the wrong thing.”

In addition to Tennant and Carlyle, he highly-anticipated series also stars Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Dougray Scott, Eve Myles, Adrian Lester, Katherine Kelly, Kevin Doyle, Neil Maskell, and others.

While the series was first announced in January, the network has yet to announce a premiere date.

‘Doctor Who’ Star Is Unrecognizable After Transformation for Next Role first appeared on Men’s Journal on Aug 6, 2025