10 Times Doctor Who Gave Fans EXACTLY What They Wanted

9. Christopher Eccleston's Comeback

Doctor Who The Day of the Doctor Matt Smith David Tennant
BBC Studios

The fact that we only spent one series with Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor left many a frustrated fan wanting more. A lot more.

As with Paul McGann, Eccleston's time onscreen was far more brief than your average Doctor's, and though Big Finish came to McGann's rescue towards the end of the wilderness years, a comeback for Nine just didn't seem on the cards.

And that's because, in the years after his 2005 exit, Eccleston made it clear that he wasn't on great terms with Doctor Who, even stating that he didn't enjoy working on the show. And that's exactly why the announcement of his audio-exclusive return was such a great moment of fan service - absolutely nobody expected it to happen.

So far, Nine has battled Cybermen, Ravagers, ancient psychic aliens, and more, and his Big Finish run has been very well-received. Eccleston himself is also enjoying it, even enthusiastically teasing a 60th anniversary story with the late David Warner.

After all the behind-the-scenes drama we've heard about over the years, to see him embrace the Whoniverse once again (albeit just in audio form) was a fantastic surprise, and it's something that fans have been eager to see - but never thought they would - since Nine regenerated in the Series 1 finale

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.