Doctor Who: Christopher Eccleston Reveals Involvement In 60th Anniversary Story

Former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston has revealed his involvement in a story celebrating the series' 60th anniversary. Doctor Who's 60th anniversary season brings back Russell T. Davies as showrunner. It will also feature former series stars David Tennant and Catherine Tate (as well as new lead Ncuti Gatwa). Eccelston has made it clear that he has no plans to return to Doctor Who on television. However, he has starred in ongoing Doctor Who audio adventures from Big Finish Productions. At last month's FedCon event, Eccleston revealed that he recorded a new story as the Ninth Doctor for a Big Finish 60th anniversary release. He'll star opposite David Warner.

"I did something very special for the 60th anniversary and for me it was all about working with this incredible actor an incredible human being called David Warner," Eccleston says (h/t Bleeding Cool for noticing the video of the panel). "I think the 60th is is my favorite and you're gonna have to wait but it's going to be worked away because David Warner is extraordinary and if any actor should have been the Doctor it would have been David."

Warner has had a storied acting career. His credits include Time Bandits, Tron, and Titanic. He's had a few guest starring roles in Doctor Who television. However, fans of Big Finish's Doctor Who productions will know Warner for voicing the Unbound Doctor, a version of the Doctor wh from an alternate universe, in the Doctor Who Unbound serial (and more recently in The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield). Could his involvement mean the Ninth Doctor will meet the Unbound Doctor? Or is Warner playing a different role? It's impossible to know for sure, but we do know that Eccelston isn't a big fan of multi-Doctor stories:

"I've never been a fan of multi-Doctor stories. You know, when I worked on the series I had really strong ideas—surprise, surprise—about what works and what doesn't, and I always think that multi-Doctor stories are a bit of a cash-in, and a bit of exploitation," Eccleston said at the Supernova convention in Australia earlier this year. "Creatively they never work for me. … The Ninth Doctor in particular is a one-man band, definitely. So, he doesn't work with other Doctors. If you want me back, you get me on my own."

However, the Unbound Doctor isn't your typical Doctor, and maybe Eccleston's feelings don't extend to audio dramas. Considering what respect Eccleston seems to have for Warner's performance as the Doctor, that may have been enough for him.

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