The Ninth Doctor Appreciation Thread

[The Castellan]

Hidily Ho!

I myself prefer classic Who to the new stuff, but the first season was an exception to that. I liked hoe Eccleston portrayed the Doctor, he was able to make the Doc very alien like, and I liked the idea of a world weary Doctor, and how he actually talks about humanity's short comings, ala "Stupid Apes", and how they seem to only care about waking up, going to work, coming home, eat chips, watch TV and go to bed. Plus, I think his chemistry with Rose, Mickey, and Jack was a lot better than Tennant's was. Tennent was okay, (sees a brick a Tennant fan girl threw at him, and barely misses) but I feel he was too human....going from ridiculing humanity's short comings to praising them....and was too much of a pacifist, and that "I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry," got very old, and annoying, quick. I think it's a pity Eccleston did not stay longer than he did, HE was one who got Doctor Who back for us, Tennant and Smith just went with it, some of the later seasons would have been awesome with him in them, instead. And while Tom Baker's always going to be my favorite, Eccleston gets the number two spot, and that's not too shabby a place, either. He even reminds me of Baker, with a hint of Hartnell tossed in. I often get annoyed when there's something about Doctor Who on the tube, they always talk about Tennant and Smith, but seldom, if ever talk about Eccleston, like want to ignore him or pretend he was never there.

Plus he put the moves on a humanoid tree, for goodness sakes.

So let's talk about the underrated Ninth Doctor and the first season, or 27th season, of Doctor Who.

 

[The Wormhole]

Although I consider Tennant to be "my Doctor" Eccleston's performance was awesome. He may only have had a year with the role, but in that year he introduced the character of the Doctor to a new audience and showed some of the best aspects of the character. While he might be a bit darker than others, his attitude and personality were very human and relatable, and he had that air of mystery and a sense of alien-ness that are integral to the character.

Basically, Christopher Eccleston is the Doctor and his performance is among the best of the eleven.

 

[Worf2DS9]

I also really loved Eccleston as the Doctor and was disappointed when it became known he wouldn't be around for Series 2. I also purchased several of the 9th Doctor novels from BBC Books and that was a great way to continue Nine's run, as it was easy to "see" Eccleston on these adventures with Rose.

 

[The Castellan]

I also really loved Eccleston as the Doctor and was disappointed when it became known he wouldn't be around for Series 2. I also purchased several of the 9th Doctor novels from BBC Books and that was a great way to continue Nine's run, as it was easy to "see" Eccleston on these adventures with Rose.

In addition to the Fourth Doctor, I also collect every variant of the Ninth Doctor action figures from Character Options.

I think Doc Nine had better chemistry with Rose, Ten's felt a little bit forced. Imagine the Ninth Doctor taking on John Lumic, the weeping angels, having met Cassandra the second time, bumping into Davros, or taking on The Beast.

 

[Timofnine]

I watched 'Dalek' for the first time in a year or so last week, I forgot just how good he was... far more higher calibre of and actor then the latest two incarnations.

 

[ITL]

I'll take the opportunity to shamelessly add some 9th Doctor Photoshoppings what I done a while back:

 

[Starkers]

I liked Eccleston a lot, I thought he played a very different kind of Doctor, but one who fitted into the sequence very well. My only issue with him carrying on would have been that the survivor guilt Doctor could only have gone on for so long.

I much prefered CE's chemistry with Piper to DTs (and I like DT)

 

[mojodaddy]

I started only really paying attention to Doctor Who on BBCA with Matt Smith, and his performance was part of what hooked me. From there I started working backwards because that's the order that I had access to it (the show is surprisingly interesting when your first viewing is in reverse order). I caught the last season and a half of DT's run, expecting to have a difficult time accepting these that these two guys were the same character, but they bridge pretty nicely. When I got to Chris with his pointedly different look, I thought it would be more difficult. Instead I found an actor establishing character traits that the later actors would continue to draw on. The two later actors are great, but so is Eccleston, and another season or two with him would have been so good.
In defense of the show, I don't think he was immediately forgotten as an incarnation of the Doctor. It seems that there were a couple of flashbacks of him.

 

[The Castellan]

I liked Eccleston a lot, I thought he played a very different kind of Doctor, but one who fitted into the sequence very well. My only issue with him carrying on would have been that the survivor guilt Doctor could only have gone on for so long.

I much prefered CE's chemistry with Piper to DTs (and I like DT)

I always thought he'd get over that in time, we only had one season of him. Would have been cool to see how he'd be like once he'd reach that point.

 

[Shanndee]

Christopher Eccleston was definitely "my doctor". I loved his ability to balance comedy and darkness. Nine was a superior being who was really beginning to understand and care about humans (even though he would use the "stupid ape" comment often).

I also like that the ninth doctor actually had to deal with the fall out of his actions. He had to deal with the consequences of decisions that he made instead of just going off on his next adventure.

Nine also had great humour and charm in addition to the above. Definitely my favourite doctor!

 

[Starkers]

I liked Eccleston a lot, I thought he played a very different kind of Doctor, but one who fitted into the sequence very well. My only issue with him carrying on would have been that the survivor guilt Doctor could only have gone on for so long.

I much prefered CE's chemistry with Piper to DTs (and I like DT)

I always thought he'd get over that in time, we only had one season of him. Would have been cool to see how he'd be like once he'd reach that point.

But the regeneration worked perfectly to give him that closure. Whether he fought some or all of it, Nine clearly carried a huge amount of guilt, and the only way he could get past it in the end was to 'die' and be reborn.

 

[The Castellan]

I liked Eccleston a lot, I thought he played a very different kind of Doctor, but one who fitted into the sequence very well. My only issue with him carrying on would have been that the survivor guilt Doctor could only have gone on for so long.

I much prefered CE's chemistry with Piper to DTs (and I like DT)

I always thought he'd get over that in time, we only had one season of him. Would have been cool to see how he'd be like once he'd reach that point.

But the regeneration worked perfectly to give him that closure. Whether he fought some or all of it, Nine clearly carried a huge amount of guilt, and the only way he could get past it in the end was to 'die' and be reborn.

Was not necessary.

 

[Starkers]

All a matter of opinion and I guess he could have 'got over' the Time War another way, but it works out quite handy from a production perspective when you need to introduce a (on the surface) more happy go lucky doctor.

 

[mojodaddy]

Aside from the episode that introduces 10, the next few episodes sounded to me as if they could have just as easily been written with Eccleston as The Doctor in mind, as if they were written before it was known he was leaving the show. Due to the nature of the character, it happens to work. It just makes me think that the character was making a bit of a shift, regardless of which actor happened to be playing him.

 

[TiberiusMaximus]

I love Nine! He's my favorite.

 

[sonak]

he's okay, sort of in the middle for me as far as doctor preferences. He was a creatively different take on the doctor, but something about him always seemed a bit off.

 

[Bacl]

Yeah, Nine's my favorite too (although I have a fondness of each Doctor and actor who played him).

I think the first NuWho series was just great. I'd have loved to see Eccleston play the Doctor with rose with scripts like "Family of Blood", "Girl in the Fireplace", a "Christmas Carol" and "Vincent and the Doctor."

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I was disappointed to see Eccleston go so quickly. Ten eventually became my favorite Doctor, but I'd have liked to see more of Nine.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Eccelston was my first Doctor. I thought he did an incredible good job as the Doctor. He is the one who made me a fan of the current series and the franchise as a whole. David Tennant though is my favourite Doctor, I would have liked to have seen at least one more season with Chris.