By BRIAN BEACOM

DAVID Tennant has played outstanding characters in British theatre television and film in recent years, including Macbeth and the iconic Dr Who.

However, he admits he has long been seduced by the idea of playing Scots psychiatrist RD Laing.

But then Ronnie Laing, who grew up in Glasgow’s Govanhill, was no ordinary psychiatrist.

Laing was a counter culture icon in the Sixties, a doctor who used LSD in patient treatment and was revered by the likes of the Beatles and Sean Connery.

“I first became aware of RD Laing when I was over there,” says former RSAMD student, David Tennant, pointing across the road.

“One of the other years did a production of a play called Mary Barnes, who was a painter whom Laing had treated in Kingsley Hall, his London treatment centre.

“Since then I came to realise he was more than a psychiatrist. He was a political philosopher and his controversial ideas were always being hotly debated.”

The actor adds, “RD Laing began conversations about mental health that still role on today.”

RD Laing suggested schizophrenia was more a result of family disintegration than a physiological condition.

“Yet, while he was a charismatic figure, a man who had wells of empathy, he could also be something of a bully to his own family.

“That’s a great character to play.”

The idea of a film of the life of RD Laing has been talked about for years. Now, the result will be premiered at the Glasgow Film Festival.

“I wasn’t even sure it would happen until it was actually happening, because money was tight,” says the Broadchurch star, grinning.

“But how could you not be be pleased to have the chance to play RD Laing?”

• Mad To be Normal, The Glasgow Film Theatre, March 24-27