How day of the Doctor would have looked with Eccleston 

We all know that Christopher Eccleston declined to take part in the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who. But, up until now we didn’t exactly know how the ninth Doctor would have fit in to the story. 

Luckily for us bleeding cool have unearthed some early concept art, with Christopher Eccleston in place of Sir John Hurt. 

What’s interesting is that had Eccleston appeared, Billie Piper wouldn’t have. Instead the moment would have taken the image of a young girl. 

   
    
   

Leela and The War Doctor

Today saw thousands of fans flock to Slough, for Big Finish day 8.

The big finish team announced live on stage, that the fourth box set in The War Doctor saga will see Louise Jameson’s classic companion Leela reunite with the War Doctor (Sir John Hurt), as the horrors of the Time War come ever closer to home.

Producer David Richardson said:

“I’d often wondered what became of Leela during the Time War, and working on these War Doctor tales has given us a wonderful opportunity to explore that. And it’s irresistible territory – the Warrior of the Sevateem reunited with an old friend, who has become a Warrior in the Time War”.

Jameson has previously reprised her role in multiple Doctor Who releases, starring opposite Tom Baker in three series of The Fourth Doctor Adventures and with fellow companion Lalla Ward in the popular spin-off series Gallifrey.

Executive Producer Nick Briggs added:

“Over the many years of working with us, Louise has brought so much extra depth to the character of Leela, and given the nature of her backstory and involvement in the affairs of Gallifrey it was a natural choice to have her involved in the Time War. And like John Hurt, she’s a genuinely uplifting person to work with.”

Doctor Who – The War Doctor 4: Casualties of War will be released in February 2017, and is available to pre-order now. You can listen to the first exclusive teaser below.

John Hurt returns as The War Doctor for Big Finish

Big Finish announced today that John Hurt will reprise his role as The War Doctor for a series of audios.

The adventures of The War Doctor will be told over four box sets, each containing three linked hour-long episodes. The first is titled ‘Only The Monstrous’ and is written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

“The story of the Doctor who refuses to call himself the Doctor in order to do the unthinkable upon the ultimate battlefield — all of space and time — was irresistible to me,” says Nicholas. “Such a deeply disturbing and engaging character created by the formidable talents of writer Steven Moffat and actor John Hurt. It’s such a privilege to be working on this.”

The cast of The War Doctor also includes Jacqueline Pearce, who plays Time Lord Cardinal Ollistra — an arch manipulator who is waging the Time War against the Daleks. Jacqueline starred in The Two Doctors as Chessene and she is known to many science fiction fans for her role as Servalan in the cult classic Blake’s 7.

Only The Monstrous will be released in December 2015 and will be followed in February 2016 by the second volume, Infernal Devices, which is written by John Dorney, Phil Mulryne and Matt Fitton. Volumes Three and Four are currently in pre-production.

In addition to The War Doctor, November 2017 also sees a prequel box set to the saga, Doctor Who: The Eighth Doctor — The Time War, which will follow the early stages of the Time War from the Eighth Doctor’s perspective. Paul McGann stars, alongside characters first introduced in the War Doctor box sets.

If you only listen to one podcast with John Hurt, listen to the one he did with Big Finish. If you listen to two podcasts with John Hurt, then listen to my podcast with John Hurt.

Episode 121:John Hurt Interview

In which Martyn very quickly interviews the man himself, John Hurt.

The podcast is available from all good podcast services, such as but not limited to Amazon Music, Podchaser, Player FM, Stitcher, and Apple Podcasts.

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