This is the Doctor who broke the mold. All the Doctors leading up to Nine had been… a bit on the fancy side. They wore suits or elaborate costumes or looked stereotypically British in other not-so-subtle ways. So when the powers that be at the BBC chose to revive the series in 2005, after it had been basically dead since 1996, they took a calculated risk by presenting a Doctor who had little in common stylistically with his predecessors. Black pants, black leather jacket, and a dark t-shirt. That was it. Gone were the technicolor dreamcoats, the absurdly long scarves, the ruffled shirts, the bow ties, etc. This Doctor actually looked like something of a tough guy, so, at first, it was all too easy to look at him and think, “Well, that’s not MY Doctor.”
And that was the idea — this wasn’t the Doctor as we remembered him. This was a stripped-down Timelord in his magic blue box. This is the Doctor who would anchor what would eventually become a second “golden age” for the show. He was exactly the right Doctor at exactly the right time, but it’s too bad he only lasted for one season. Just as fans were getting used to this Doctor, it was time to regenerate. Eccleston’s tenure as the Doctor was the second shortest the show has seen next to Paul McGann’s 8th Doctor, and, after Eccleston, the show would go on to achieve new heights of popularity and pop-culture influence. But it’s important to remember that this was the Doctor that really got the revival started.
Eccleston’s brief tenure was evident in Character Options’ toy line as well since he only saw a very small number of figures, but there is speculation that this is largely due to Eccleston himself and his desire to distance himself from the property. The 9th Doctor and Rose were originally issued as McFarlane-esque, pre-posed, barely articulated statues. They were nothing special, and they certainly didn’t portend the expansive toy line it would eventually evolve into. By the time the line really got going, Tennant’s time as the 10th Doctor had already begun and the quality of the figures improved greatly. Decent versions of the 9th Doctor and Rose would eventually be released, thankfully, and what we’re looking at here is the 9th Doctor from the 11 Doctor box set.
This figure is a nicely realized rendering of the 9th Doctor. The design is so simple, but very effective. He’s mostly just cast in black plastic with paint apps applied to just his t-shirt and the little bit of flesh that aren’t concealed in black. The sculpt of his jacket is one of the true standouts here — it really does look like black leather due to the highly detailed texturing of the sculpt.
The head sculpt is so spot-on. It really captures Eccleston’s likeness quite accurately, and the neutral expression actually works here much better than it does with most of Ten’s or Eleven’s figures since Nine did tend to wear a fairly neutral expression in the show often enough. Even if you’re not necessarily a Doctor Who fan, it’s still cool to have a Christopher Eccleston somewhere in the collection. I think that’s why I like this figure so much — Eccleston has been in many of my favorite movies, so I love looking at my toy shelves and seeing his likeness looking back at me.
His sonic screwdriver is exactly the same one as Ten’s, which works since the two did share the same sonic screwdriver and TARDIS on the show. That’s another thing that really indicates just how abrupt Eccleston’s departure from the show was. Usually a new Doctor gets a new sonic screwdriver, but Ten just inherited Nine’s.
This version of the TARDIS is chiefly associated with Tennant since he inhabited it for several seasons, but it was introduced with Eccleston. It is nice to pose him with it every now and then to be reminded of that.
Rose never got another figure based on her look during Eccleston’s tenure. The Rose in the above and below pics are based on her look from a Tennant episode, but it’s the best Rose figure Character Options has produced, unfortunately. I’d love for them to take another pass at her in her red hoodie, but it’s beyond doubtful that will ever happen now.
This Captain Jack figure is also from Tennant’s tenure, but since the show involves time travel, I’m not really all that concerned with any inconsistencies in my display. It’s just cool to have these three posed together.
It’s been a few years, so this particular figure isn’t exactly “around” anymore, but the good news is he’s set to be reissued in a 2-pack with an Imperial Guard Dalek (see promo image below). The only difference apears to be his t-shirt color. This set will likely run you about $40 US.
This figure is definitely worth tracking down, though, because it’s a great representation of what I believe is one of the better Doctors the show has seen.
