Eccleston Calls Multi-Doctor Stories A “Cash-in”, “If you want me back, get me on my own”
Asked at a Supanova Q&A panel this weekend if there are any Doctors he’d like to collaborate with, he replied: “I’ve never been a fan of multi-Doctor stories.”
He elaborated: “When I worked on the series, I had really strong ideas 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.
“Creatively, they never worked for me. I looked at the script for the 50th anniversary and I felt as soon as I said I wasn’t doing it got better because, well, if i’m not in it, it’s better.
“But the creation of the War Doctor introduced a whole new facet to the canon. I know it made some people anxious, the fundamentalists, but, no. I mean, the father of us all is William Hartnell, but the greatest Doctor is Jodie Whitaker.”
He concluded: “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’d get me on my own.”
It’s an interesting attitude change from Eccleston. In 2020, he said he would return to the TV show “only when hell freezes over”. However, a big hurdle still is whether his working relationship with Russell T Davies can be repaired.