Tennant to play Hamlet in BBC production

LONDON, May 29 (UPI) -- Scottish actor David Tennant has signed on to reprise the title role he played on stage in "Hamlet" in a BBC television production of the drama.

Best known for his portrayal of TV's "Doctor Who," Tennant was credited for drawing large audiences to the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2008-09 staging of "Hamlet."

However, the actor missed numerous performances after the show moved from Stratford-Upon-Avon to London's West End because he had to undergo, then recuperate from back surgery.

BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow told The Daily Telegraph the three-hour-long, small-screen production of "Hamlet," with Tennant in the starring role, is "a wonderful opportunity ... to bring one of the great stage successes of last year to a wider audience."