David Tennant has confessed that he is a ‘nepo baby’ after admitting his late TV minister dad used his contacts to get him in the door of his first telly job.

The Doctor who actor, 53, whose adopted son Ty has also been branded with the label on account of his famous family, admitted that the connections his father Sandy Macdonald had in broadcasting came in handy when he started out in acting.

In the 1980s the late reverent, who pᴀssed away aged 78 in 2016, co-presented religious programmes including That’s The Spirit on Scottish television.

Speaking on his David Tennant Does A Podcast With…, he said: ‘Sandy MacDonald became a bit of a television star in Scottish television. He used to do the Thought for the Day and the Late Night Thought for the Day’. 

‘And he would sit there on a little chair with a little table with a bowl of flowers next to him. And he’d go, ‘good evening’. 

David said that his father sent off his picture to the drama department of Scottish Television which helped him get a foot in the door.

David Tennant, 53, has confessed that he is a ‘ nepo baby ’ after admitting his late TV minister dad used his contacts to get him in the door of his first telly job

The Doctor who actor admitted that the connections his father Sandy Macdonald had in broadcasting came in handy when he started out in acting (pictured together) 

‘He didn’t know the drama people at Scottish television, but he knew there was a drama department. I suppose because he had a bit of an in, he knew how to get to it. This is absolutely nepotism. If I’m a nepo baby, this is the moment’.

Before heading to drama school, David explained that his dad snapped some cringey pH๏τos of him and sent them to Scottish Television. 

‘Not somebody he knew, but he found a desk for them to land on. A man called Haldane Duncan, who was a producer-director. Of course, there’s so many elements of luck here, but they landed on his desk as he was looking for a 15-year-old to be in a children’s drama called Dramarama, which was a kind of anthology show’.

He went on: ‘There was only three channels back then, remember? And he was looking to cast a ghost story that needed three teenagers, and this landed on his desk, and he got me in, and I got a part in a Dramarama.”

Meanwhile David’s adopted son Ty, whose mother is actress Georgia Tennant,  has also been branded a nepo baby.

Ty last year revealed he was recording music, but first sH๏τ to fame for his compelling portrayal of Tom Gresham in the adaptation of H.G. Wells’ iconic science fiction series. 

Building on this early success, he took on the role of young Aegon II Targaryen in HBO’s highly acclaimed fantasy series House of the Dragon.

In 2019, he starred in Casualty, the series his mum had also had a brief appearance in, starring in two episodes before her character was killed off in 2009.

David said that his father sent off his picture to the drama department of Scottish Television which helped him get a foot in the door (David pictured 1994)

Meanwhile David’s adopted son Ty, whose mother is actress Georgia Tennant, has also been branded a nepo baby  (Pictured David and Ty in 2019)

Ty last year revealed he was recording music, but first sH๏τ to fame for his compelling portrayal of Tom Gresham in the adaptation of H.G. Wells’ iconic science fiction series 

In March 2012 Scottish actor David revealed he had become a ‘double dad’ after adopting Tyler a year earlier.

The former Doctor Who star told Absolute Radio at the time: ‘My baby is almost a year old and I adopted my wife’s boy last year as well so I became a father twice in six months – that’s got to be something of a record hasn’t it?’

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Georgia gave birth to Tyler in 2002, when she was just 17. She brought him up alone and has never publicly revealed who the father is.

David and Georgia wed in 2011 and went on to have children Olive, 12, Wilfred, 11, Doris, eight, and Birdie, four.

In 2020 Ty spoke of the moment he met David on the set of Doctor Who, aged five.

He spoke of his close bond with the actor, whom he calls his father, and why he would love to be the third Doctor in the family as he appeared on Lorraine.

David met Ty’s mum Georgia when she had a guest role in the 2008 episode The Doctor’s Daughter- and it was then when Ty met his TV hero.

‘It was great, I was five when I first met my dad, my mum was working on Doctor Who at the time,’ Ty said.

‘I watched him on TV as the hero, and it was crazy how much your life can change.’