David Tennant reunites with skull (From Salisbury Journal)

David Tennant reunites with skull

4:17pm Tuesday 24th November 2009

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David Tennant is to revive his partnership with a real human skull for a new BBC film version of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The skull had starred in a stage run of the classic production last year after pianist Andre Tchaikowsky left his remains to the Royal Shakespeare Company in the hope it would be used on stage.

Now the Press Association has learned it is being used in a TV dramatisation of the RSC production to be screened this Christmas.

And the boss of the RSC has admitted that the company secretly used the skull during the play's London run, despite the company saying at the time it was to use a fake.

Tennant held the skull on stage during the famed "Alas, poor Yorick" scene for more than 20 performances at the Courtyard Theatre, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The outgoing Doctor Who star was lauded for his performance in the production and it has now been filmed for BBC2.

Greg Doran, who directed the stage and TV versions said: "Yes, Andre appears in the film - as in fact he did throughout both the Stratford and the London runs."

He explained: "I didn't allow news that he transferred to London to be leaked out, as we did not want audiences to be unnecessarily distracted by what had then become a bit of a news story.

"Andre Tchaikowsky's skull was a very important part of our production of Hamlet, and despite all the hype about him, he meant a great deal to the company.

"Yorick's skull, and Hamlet's lament to him, is probably one of the most famous icons in Shakespeare, and one most frequently satirised and misquoted."

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