David Tennant is hoping Jodie Whittaker will show off her witty side on 'Doctor Who'.

David Tennant

David Tennant

The 46-year-old actor - who portrayed the 10th Time Lord from 2005 until 2010 - is a close friend of the former 'Trust Me' star and is looking forward to seeing how she portrays the first-ever female time-travelling alien on the popular BBC sci-fi series.

He told Heart Scotland radio: "Because I know Jodie and I can imagine all the things that she might bring to it, I'm thrilled to see what that's going to look like and what the stories are going to be.

"She's such a great choice. I'm hoping the public will get to see sides of Jodie that she's often kept hidden in the brilliantly sort of detailed character studies that she presents to the world.

"There's a madness to Jodie, she's one of the funniest people, so I think we'll get to enjoy some of that in The Doctor and it's really exciting."

The Scottish actor previously admitted the new Time Lord's gender will be "irrelevant almost immediately".

He said: "Sure, Jodie is from a different gender than anyone who's gone before, but that will be irrelevant almost immediately when she takes the part.

"The Doctor can be whatever he needs to be. It's about finding the right performer at the right time - and that's Jodie without a doubt."

David, who starred alongside Jodie in ITV's 'Broadchurch', said the 'Doctor Who' fans can get defensive about the character because they love the show so much.

He said: "Do you know, whenever the Doctor changes there's a backlash, because that's a character people love.

"So people get very affectionate about the Doctor they knew."

He explained that even when he took over from Christopher Eccleston in 2005, he received similar backlash to Jodie ,35, because viewers get over "enthusiastic" and he said a lot of people thought he was too "weaselly-looking" to take on such an iconic role.

David previously heaped praise on Jodie's new role as the time traveller, hailing her a "strong female lead".