“I can feel it. The turn of the earth. The ground beneath our feet is spinning at 1,000 miles an hour and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at 67,000 miles an hour, and I can feel it.”
2005 was a big, big year for Doctor Who. Resurrecting a show that had been stuck in varying states of limbo for 16 years was a brave decision, and if it was to have any sort of lasting appeal it had to be done properly. In order to shed its tainted reputation of wobbly sets, baffling storylines, and eccentric acting, the revived Doctor Who had to come out of the gates with an almighty start. It had a prolific writer at its helm in Russell T Davies, but most importantly, it needed a prolific Doctor. Enter Christopher Eccleston.
The casting announcement reassured audiences that the show was going to be in safe hands – Eccleston was an already established actor before taking on the role of the Time Lord, having starred in films like Let Him Have It and Jude. Due to his more “gritty” beginnings, though, it may have come as a bit of a surprise to some that he had agreed to play such a family-centric character, a challenge that Eccleston both admitted and relished. Bringing a more down-to-earth side to The Doctor than perhaps any other actor before him, his performance as the war-torn and troubled traveller displayed exactly why he was the right man for the job – and of course, there were plenty of lighter, sillier moments that reminded us just why we fell in love with The Doctor in the first place.
Despite being one of the shortest serving Doctors, Eccleston’s time in the TARDIS was definitely one to remember. His 13 episode run contained some of the best episodes that the revived show has seen – Rose, Dalek, The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, Father’s Day, and Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways to name but a few. Oh, and there were some farting Slitheen along the way as well. Not too shabby for a first series, and we were certainly left wanting more by the time he bowed out.
He may have left after only one series, but Eccleston’s era left a huge impact on Doctor Who – without his contribution, the show may not have lasted past its first outing and quite possibly there would have been no Tenth, Eleventh, or Twelfth Doctor eras, or at least not as we know them. Even if he never returns to the series on screen, his legacy remains in the extended media of novels, comics, and our imaginations.
So, please join us today as we extend a Happy 52nd Birthday to the Ninth Doctor himself, and wish him all the best for his projects in the future.
Before we go, Christopher, we just want to tell you… you were (say it with me now) fantastic!
[…] Source […]