Unboxing DT

...I receive a metric ton of David Tennant collectibles, and I show you what I got!

For the last few days I’ve been waiting with bated breath for a series of packages to arrive on my doorstep, and I received them today while I was busily working on my latest post. When they arrived and I started going through them, I was so excited and overwhelmed and *insert more adjectives* that I had to stop writing on the post I’d planned to do in order to do an impromptu Twitter thread (my official A Tennantcy To Act account over there is here) about unboxing my new cache of David Tennant treasures.

Then I thought, “Why not duplicate that thread here?” So this is that post.

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If y'all have read and paid attention to A Tennantcy To Act at all, I’m sure you’ll recall I’ve mentioned a now-defunct website called The Play's The Thing: A Dedicated David Tennant Theatre Site by Diane Medas a number of times before. When I first started my research into David’s career many years ago, this was the site which got its hooks into me and helped to kick-start my obsession with David’s work, and his theatre career in particular. It had information about all his greatest hits, sure, like Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing, but it also explored his younger years. And it was amazing.

Sadly, the site (and its sister site, The David Tennant Audio Archive) were shut down in 2016 when its creator had personal and family issues she needed to address. She put away all the things she’d collected over the years and they languished in a storage unit.

Until now. After many years she and I got to talking again. I told her how her work had inspired mine, and how A Tennantcy To Act had picked up the mantle of The Play’s The Thing. And she told me she wanted to divest her collection…and she wanted me to have it.

And now I do.

So now you know where all of this came from, let’s get to looking at it, shall we?

Here's what it looked like when it arrived:

I addressed the flat-pack envelope first. It had ripped in transit but luckily nothing was damaged.

Inside? A ton of rare DT magazines, a few theatre programmes (you can see Vassa peeking out from the ripped envelope), and some promotional material (Spies of Warsaw and an Equity publication are visible here). There were over thirty magazines inside, and here are a few photos of some of them, plus a selected few interviews.

And oh yes, I’ll definitely be scanning these to make better copies of the interviews and photos...

In the second box, there were more magazines. Radio Times galore, as well as a few gorgeous Doctor Who-era compilations - and then, the sweet, sweet stuff I crave.

Theatre programmes! Theatre flyers! Theatre publications! Theatre photos!

Ohhhhh my goodness! I had some of these already, but there are so many I didn’t until now. Merlin and Hay Fever are now mine! I’ve now also got the complete collection of the RSC Summer Festival 2000 programmes for The Comedy Of Errors, The Rivals, and Romeo and Juliet - regular AND silver covers.

Whoo hoo!

And look at the 7:84 stuff! (They’re photocopies of the programmes and not the programmes themselves, but beggars and choosers and all, ya know).

I AM literally SWOONING.

Moving on….

Upon opening the third box I can see we're now starting to get into some serious ephemera - like newpaper clippings, photos, books, DVDs, and so forth.

The first photo features additional theatre programmes and flyers - something I can never get enough of - though most (but not all) of the things seen in this particular photo are items I’ve already got in my collection.

The third photo features various theatre production photos and a few postcard sets (from Hamlet, Love’s Labor’s Lost, and Romeo and Juliet), as well as the complete set of David’s series of RSC postage stamps and some Headway Essex stuff.

The last photo is DVDs - and look, among them are some rarities like Mrs. Bradley’s Mysteries and People Like Us. And there are also two books written by Sue Williams, which catalog three years (2008-2010) in the life of David Tennant.

And finally…..the last box.

This one was full of tons more DVDs, as well as a number of audio plays - some (like the Arnott and Nichols ones) that are hard to get hold of nowadays.

There was also an extra special surprise in this box that'll be the subject of a few future A Tennantcy To Act posts, so I think I’ll keep that mum for now!

....and that, my friends, is the end of the unboxing!

There's still a long triangular box I'm waiting on, which I'll get Monday. It contains at least one theatre poster, and perhaps more. I'm excited for that one, too!

If you've got any questions, let me have 'em!

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EDITED TO ADD (19 August 2024):

I just received my "long triangular box" and I've unboxed it to discover a number of incredible posters!

My benefactor had wanted to send me the 'Romeo and Juliet' poster she had but she couldn't locate it, so she ended up sending me everything else she could find. So, within the box were posters for (from left to right):

Much Ado About Nothing (2011)

Hurly Burly (1997)

The General From America (1996)

The Herbal Bed (1996)

Richard II (2013)

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They’re all amazing, and in perfect shape.

I am incredibly lucky.