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The announcement that Christopher Eccleston would be the ninth Doctor Who
came as a complete surprise. Known as a heavyweight actor, with a reputation for dour and
gritty roles, I couldn't imagine anyone further from my conception of the Doctor. I
shouldn't have worried. Eccleston turned out to be a revelation, playing the Doctor
completely against expectation - with off-the-wall humour and a manic, madcap
energy, which even sees him grinning in the face of danger. He seemed more aloof and
detached; rushing into action without thinking of the consequences to individual human
lives. Yet he was also concerned for peace and justice, being ready to negotiate with an
alien menace rather than just destroy it. His Northern accent, and casual manner of
speech and dress really weren't issues, but part of a brilliant reinvention of Doctor
Who for the 21st Century. As the series progressed, we learned more about what drove
this Doctor. He had fought in the last great Time War, that had seen his world and his
people completely destroyed. We were seeing a man who was war-scarred and shellshocked, his
odd mixture of compassion and recklessness the result of survivor guilt. From the broadcast
of the first episode, the new series took the nation by storm. Sadly, even as the BBC was
announcing the commissioning of a second series, the news broke that Eccleston would be
leaving the role at the end of the first - which was far more shocking than the original
news of his casting had been! We may never know what behind the scenes shenanigans may have
prompted his sudden departure. Executive producer Russell T Davies tried to furiously
backpedal, claiming it had been planned all along - but the BBC's mishandling of the
announcement might seem to suggest otherwise.
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