Tag: Ninth Doctor

Review-Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures Vol 1: Ravagers


It’s hard to deny that the announcement of Christopher Eccleston’s return to the Doctor Who franchise took fans by surprise. After all, it had been sixteen years since his thirteen-episode run reignited the show and brought it to a new generation. But here we are, with The Ninth Doctor Adventures – Ravagers, the first in a four-volume set of audio adventures written and directed by Nicholas Briggs.

On the one hand, Ravagers is an impressive and ambitious set. Eccleston’s return is a significant accomplishment for Big Finish, and it’s evident that he hasn’t lost his touch as the Doctor. The supporting cast, including Camilla Beeput and Jayne McKenna as Nova and Audrey, put in outstanding performances, and Dan Starky’s turn as Marcus Aurelius Gallius is thoroughly enjoyable. The music and sound design match the pace of Briggs’ excellent direction, and his passion for this era of Doctor Who is palpable.

However, the set’s most significant flaw is its plot. The 45-minute episode is stretched over 2 hours and 30 minutes, making the pacing drag at times. While Briggs’ love for the series shines through, the plot feels like an amalgamation of various stories he couldn’t get off the ground. We join the Ninth Doctor in the middle of an adventure and work backwards, a risky move for newcomers to the world of Doctor Who on audio.

Nonetheless, Ravagers is an enjoyable set overall, and fans of the Ninth Doctor will relish the chance to hear him once again. While a more straightforward structure would have been preferable, the set’s future promises exciting possibilities for the range.

⭐⭐

Review-Ninth Doctor #1

Following last year’s successful five-part mini-series. Titan Comics and writer Cavan Scott have brought back the ninth Doctor for an ongoing series.

Eccleston’s Doctor is easily the most tragic incarnation in Doctor Who’s history. War-torn and holding the belief that he wiped out his entire species, he finds comfort and solace in the friendship with an Earth-woman, Rose Tyler and, another mysterious time traveller named Captain Jack Harkness. I’ve always felt there’s a romantic aspect to Eccleston’s portrayal, as he was “one and done”.

The story takes place sometime after Jack joined the team.

After escaping a giant worm, the TARDIS trio soon picks up a transmission from a past version of Captain Jack-sent before he had his memories erased. They then land on a planet where the Doctor is hailed as a celebrity, on this planet he is the star of a show called ‘Doctor Who’ (No, really) as soon as the trio step out the TARDIS, the Doctor is mobbed by people wanting selfies-much like Eccleston would have been at a Doctor Who convention in 2005.

“Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor” #1 could easily fit in the 2005 series. The story is fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled and filled with humour. It’s as if Cavan Scott spent an entire week watching and re-watching series 1. He gets the characterisation of 9, Rose, and Jack down so well. You’ll wish even more, that Eccleston had done another series.

This is essential reading for fans of the ninth Doctor.

Ninth Doctor #1 is out tomorrow, from Titan comics.

Eccleston explains why he left Doctor Who

In an acting master class at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Christopher Eccleston was asked why he left a such a high paid job as Doctor Who. He responded:

“I left Doctor Who because I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye-to-eye with them. I didn’t agree with the way things were being run. I didn’t like the culture that had grown up, around the series. So I left, I felt, over a principle.”



“I thought to remain, which would have made me a lot of money and given me huge visibility, the price I would have had to pay was to eat a lot of shit. I’m not being funny about that. I didn’t want to do that and it comes to the art of it, in a way. I feel that if you run your career and– we are vulnerable as actors and we are constantly humiliating ourselves auditioning. But if you allow that to go on, on a grand scale you will lose whatever it is about you and it will be present in your work.

“If you allow your desire to be successful and visible and financially secure – if you allow that to make you throw shades on your parents, on your upbringing, then you’re knackered. You’ve got to keep something back, for yourself, because it’ll be present in your work.  A purity or an idealism is essential or you’ll become– you’ve got to have standards, no matter how hard work that is. So it makes it a hard road, really.

“You know, it’s easy to find a job when you’ve got no morals, you’ve got nothing to be compromised, you can go, ‘Yeah, yeah. That doesn’t matter. That director can bully that prop man and I won’t say anything about it’. But then when that director comes to you and says ‘I think you should play it like this’ you’ve surely got to go ‘How can I respect you when you behave like that?’

“So, that’s why I left. My face didn’t fit and I’m sure they were glad to see the back of me. The important thing is that I succeeded. It was a great part. I loved playing him. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I’ve always acted for adults and then suddenly you’re acting for children, who are far more tasteful; they will not be bullshitted. It’s either good, or it’s bad. They don’t schmooze at after-show parties, with cocktails.”



Eccleston victim of phone hacking

Christopher Eccleston revealed today that he was a victim of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal that is currently gripping the nation. At the Theatre Royal Haymarket he spoke to aspiring actors attending his acting master class and said that the Metropolitan Police had confirmed to him he had been hacked back in 2005 when he was starring in Doctor Who. He is pursuing legal action against News International, the parent company of News of the World.

He said:

“I will be putting the boot into Murdoch”