David Tennant needed therapy to cope with fame after joining 'Doctor Who'.

David Tennant

David Tennant

The actor took on the role of the Time Lord back in 2005, and he has admitted it was a shock being thrust into the public eye after only having a number of small roles before stepping into the TARDIS.

After Olivia Colman revealed she needed therapy to cope with fame when she appeared on 'David Tennant Does A Podcast With . . .', he said: "I did too, and I've never admitted that before, but it's true.

"I was so glad I was nearly middle-aged."

David, now 47, became a star overnight when he followed on from Christopher Eccleston and became The Doctor.

While it was still a very difficult adjustment for him, the star admitted he would have found it even harder if that success had come when he was a teenager.

He added: "I found it genuinely quite distressing, much more distressing than I've ever really talked about.

"If you're 17 and suddenly the world goes, 'Oh hi, oh hi, oh hi,' I don't know how your brain copes. I was in my mid to late thirties when I lost that kind of anonymity."

Meanwhile, David recently revealed while he didn't give current Time Lord Jodie Whittaker - whom he and Olivia both starred with in 'Broadchurch' - any acting advice for the character, he did tell her how it would change her life.

He said: "I didn't really have advice for Jodie. In terms of playing the part, she's all over it, she's such a skilled actor. But, I suppose if we talk about anything it was just kind of 'guard your life' a little bit because you are about to lose a certain element of it."