Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor Who return will make you long for a TV comeback

While his attitude to Who had definitely thawed over the years, it still felt unthinkable that he’d feel comfortable enough to come back (albeit in audio drama form), let alone headline a whole series of adventures.

But come back he did – and now, many months later fans can finally see (or rather, hear) the results in The Ninth Doctor Adventures: Ravagers, a three-part story from Big Finish that sees Eccleston’s Time Lord tangling with terrifying monsters, deadly drones, Roman soldiers and (most terrifying of all) a Gaming CEO in a complex, twisty adventure.

Ravagers is a fun story, albeit a little confusing – but what’s really striking about Ravagers is how non-momentous the Ninth Doctor’s return feels. There’s no grand reintroduction to this incarnation, with Nicholas Briggs' script instead plonking him right at the end of one of his adventures in the thick of the action before gradually rewinding to show how he got there.

It’s as if we’ve accidentally downloaded the (not-yet announced) sixth volume of the Ninth Doctor on Big Finish, not the first, without any self-conscious attempts to impress the importance of its central figure, or nostalgically look back at his time on-screen (beyond a couple of jokes that offer callbacks).

Really, it feels less like Eccleston’s grand return to Who, and more like he’s been here all along, saving the universe in the shadows with listeners only stumbling onto his journey by chance now. But perhaps that’s the whole point of this artistic endeavour – showing fans the “unseen adventures” of the Ninth Doctor, gradually expanding his catalogue (as Big Finish did for Paul McGann’s similarly short-lived Eighth Doctor) and giving him a canon worthy of his performance.

And it’s not the only way this series surprised me. In a contrast to Eccleston’s fairly grounded series of Who (famously, the show at that time wasn’t allowed to visit alien planets at a risk of, ahem, alienating the audience) Ravagers is a high-energy sci-fi romp, with a twisted timeline that would make River Song gasp and more technobabble than you can shake a sonic screwdriver at.

Is this a problem? Not really – considering how little space travel the Ninth Doctor got up to in the series it makes sense Big Finish would redress the balance – but it’s definitely a different proposition than Eccleston and Russell T Davies cooked up in 2005, and considerably more complicated.

Luckily we’ve got a familiar voice to guide us through – because if there was any doubt that the intervening years could have diluted Eccleston’s brilliant Ninth Doctor performance, this series will cast them aside. As expected, by far the best part of Ravagers is hearing Christopher Eccleston throw himself back into his old role with such gusto, delivering an energetic characterisation that only builds on what he brought to the screen 16 years ago.

While his Doctor is as sharp-tongued, humane and fond of brooding as ever, the lighter side of Eccleston’s performance is more in effect this time, especially when it comes to the relationship with his temporary sort-of companion Nova (Camilla Beeput). A chef who comes into the Doctor’s orbit, Nova’s not a bad foil for the Doctor (though of course she’s no Rose, who the Doctor hasn’t met at the time of this story), even if her character is slightly eclipsed by Eccleston’s effortless recapturing of his 2005 energy.

The tale Eccleston’s Doctor is revived in is a little less engaging than the man himself. While Ravagers has a couple of clever twists and some great moments (I particularly enjoyed the second episode, Cataclysm) its complicated timeline borders on incomprehensible, with the order of some events so confusing I’m still not entirely sure what happened to which version of the characters, and when, and where.

And while the three-part adventure included some great performances beyond Eccleston’s (Beeput’s Nova, Jayne McKenna’s Audrey and Dan Starkey’s Marcus in particular) the sheer sci-fi extravagance of the story felt a little cold and hard to relate to, especially compared to the warmth of the Ninth Doctor’s TV episodes.

Still, most people will be coming to these audio adventures for Eccleston, and they won’t be disappointed. There’s almost a wistful quality to hearing the Ninth Doctor again – the thought of what might have been, had Eccleston stayed a little longer – but at least fans have him back in this form, which is much more than any of us could have once expected. And with plenty more episodes set for release through to February next year, this big comeback is just getting started.

• For the latest news and expert tips on getting the best deals this year, take a look at our Black Friday 2021 and Cyber Monday 2021 guides.

Coming out of Ravagers, I was surprised by how keenly it made me want to see the Ninth Doctor back on TV. Once upon a time, that would have seemed about as likely as finding a gang of legionaries battering their way through central London – but if this strange new Doctor Who chapter has taught us something, it’s that anything can happen.

Who knows what’s next for the Ninth Doctor? For the first time, his future is limitless.

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures volume one are available for physical and digital purchase on the Big Finish website. Check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page for more Doctor Who content, or our full TV Guide for what to watch tonight.