Doctor Who director recalls how classic episode Father's Day was almost very different
Christopher Eccleston was planned to be mostly absent from the popular story.
Twenty years on from original broadcast, the Doctor Who episode Father's Day is widely regarded as one of the best episodes to be produced since the show's 2005 revival.
But the popular story – written by Paul Cornell and directed by Joe Ahearne – was almost very different.
Father's Day explores the catastrophic aftermath of the Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) taking a trip back to 1987, with Rose unleashing unforeseen horrors when she rewrites history to save the life of her father Pete Tyler (Shaun Dingwall).
Speaking at a recent event held at the BFI Southbank, in partnership with the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, director Ahearne said: "It's a really interesting episode, because a lot of people define it as Rose's episode, because it's her story [...] but obviously the Doctor's a huge, important part of it."
That almost wasn't the case, however – the original plan for the episode was that the Doctor would be sidelined, to accommodate a family matter that took Eccleston away from the Cardiff set.
"He wasn't going to be in it as much as he ended up being in it," Ahearne recalled.
"I seem to remember his dad was ill at the time, so there was a script going round at one point where the Doctor was in another dimension and we just had him in voice only."
Happily, Eccleston's father "rallied" and the actor was able to take on a more substantial part in the episode, with the Doctor only disappearing for the final act, which sees Pete Tyler willingly sacrifice his life to set time back on the right track and save an innocent wedding party from the monstrous Reapers.
Despite only appearing in one season, Eccleston's performance alongside Billie Piper as Rose helped establish Doctor Who’s popularity with new audiences.
In 2020, he returned to the role of the Ninth Doctor through a series of audio dramas produced by Big Finish. This marked his first time reprising the character since 2005.
The audio series, titled The Ninth Doctor Adventures, has expanded the Ninth Doctor’s story beyond the television series, featuring new companions and adversaries.
In 2025, Eccleston and Piper reunited for the first time in two decades for a new series of audio dramas. The 12-episode run is set to revisit familiar settings such as the Powell Estate and will include returning characters like Jackie Tyler (Camille Coduri).
Read more:
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- Doctor Who archive legend says missing episodes "certainly" exist in private collections
Doctor Who continues next Saturday (17th May), with new episodes available from 8am on Saturdays on BBC iPlayer in the UK and later the same day on BBC One. The series is available on Disney+ outside of the UK.
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Authors
Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across the brand's digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
