If Doctors are the nerdy child's equivalent of football teams, Christopher Eccleston is geographically 'my' Doctor, born a few miles closer to where I was than fellow underdog Paul McGann (though still about an hour's drive on the M6).
I've never felt any special attachment to his incarnation, but his relative scarcity in the canon – just the one run of episodes, not even hanging around for Christmas – makes him an interesting curio and means I'm not sick of seeing his mugging face like some of his more popular successors. There's also the extra novelty of his series being the debut year – definitive firsts, growing pains and all.
Here's what I reckon are The Top 11 Ninth Doctor Stories, for no more pressing reason than it was going to happen sooner or later and I felt like some light reading.
Companion key:
Rose
Rose & Mickey
Rose & Adam
Rose & Jack
Rose, Jack & Mickey
A defining example of awkward feet-finding, there's some good stuff here as we explore the consequences of careless time jaunts on loved ones, sadly spoiled by embarrassing CBBC antics and an alien that looks like a self-parody.
All I could remember about this one was the glass-switching scene, so I was hoping it might be a forgotten gem. Nah. The Star Trek style moral quandary's interesting, but then they get out of resolving it with an inexplicable ending. What? What? What?
Maybe Mark Gattis' best, though that's really not saying much, it's fun to imagine history repeating as parents write in to complain about this inappropriately disturbing intrusion in their children's favourite genocidal PTSD drama.
Russell T Davies' highly successful populist appeal reaches excess in this parade of time-bound light entertainment pastiches c.2005. It gets better as it goes along and the Doctor does his thing, but I wasn't in the mood. The Daleks' plan makes no sense if you think about it, but that probably goes for most of the series.
After a couple of classically-inspired episodes, the new Doctor Who brings back the soapiness stronger than ever while ticking off more generic time travel cliches and temporarily inventing some weird discontinuity. It's a tidy story, but never been a favourite. My parents had the same car back then, that was my main takeaway.
Eccleston's uniquely damaged Doctor makes an elaborate cry for help that secures our companionship for as long as it takes for him to get better. The peril of the week is less significant than the world-building, and while the alien parade is a little cheesy for 21st century sci-fi, Cassandra presents something new and downright disturbing at the end, much like the Big Bad I Said No in Stoppit and Tidy-up.
Literally a middling episode that nicely sets up the finale, there's lots to like about this one in its own right – from the monolithic media manipulation and creepy frozen cadavers to the failed Companion sub-plot and Simon Pegg's panto villain. It also feels distinctly old-school, aided by Tamsin Grieg sounding like she's from a 1960s serial.
Simultaneously the first OTT finale and regeneration of the new era, Eccleston goes out like a champ and doesn't milk it. One of the few Dalek episodes I like, the dread is strong and most threads are neatly snipped ready for the new bloke.
A smart start to the new era, even if it's up front about ripping off the 1970 relaunch. The domestic focus wins over sci-fi sceptics, while Eccleston's more rugged Doctor is a compelling new approach for old-schoolers who embrace change. As a sci-fi fan who was lukewarm on the classics, the meta 'Doctor who?' bit was enough to reel me in and forgive the occasional burping bin.
Still the Dalek episode to beat, not only is this a definitive showcase for the irrepressible pepperpots, it also brings the opening Act of 21st century Doctor Who to a head as we learn that our hero is a genocidal mass murderer. They should have continued to adapt the best of Big Finish, could have spared us a lot of pain.
I knew Steven Moffat's early hit was a top 10 story, but it might even be top 2. Sinister and heartwarming with an ecstatic ending, it even invents a popular new character just to take the piss.
