Christopher Eccleston jokes that he'll return to Doctor Who on TV "when hell freezes over"
Eccleston's recording new audio adventures as the Ninth Doctor, but even Lorraine Kelly couldn't get him to commit to a TV comeback.
As excited as Doctor Who fans are to have Christopher Eccleston back in a new series of audio adventures, the announcement that he'd signed up to record for Big Finish inevitably had fans asking whether we could ever see the Ninth Doctor on TV again.
Eccleston is currently recording the first volume of Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures – set for release in May 2021 – but during an appearance this morning (15th December) on ITV's Lorraine to encourage viewers to buy The Big Issue this Christmas, he was quizzed by the host about whether this meant a TV comeback could happen next.
"I'm on my way to do the second day of recording of the audio adventures of the Ninth Doctor for a company called Big Finish, and it's written by an excellent writer called Nicholas Briggs - who's also the voice of the Daleks," Eccleston explained, dialling into the show on a video call.
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When pressed as to whether he might now "pop up" again on the TV series, Eccleston grinned and said, "I know what you're getting at, Lorraine, but... only when hell freezes over!"
The call had to end shortly afterwards, as Eccleston appeared to experience some technical issues with his camera...
Eccleston played the Ninth Doctor for a single series of 13 episodes following Doctor Who's grand comeback in 2005.
He turned down an opportunity to reprise the role for the show’s 50th anniversary special in 2013, but in his memoir published last year, Eccleston spoke positively about his relationship with Doctor Who fans and how this had “healed” him.
In August, it was announced that he'd be recording four volumes of audio adventures with Big Finish, with the actor himself saying, "After 15 years it will be exciting to revisit the Ninth Doctor’s world, bringing back to life a character I love playing."
Yesterday (14th December), he made a post to Instagram proudly displaying his first new Doctor Who script.
All four volumes of Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures will be available in three formats – collector’s edition CD, digital download or limited edition gatefold triple LP vinyl (limited to a pressing of 1000 per volume) – and are available to pre-order exclusively from the Big Finish website.
You can learn more about The Big Issue Christmas appeal here.
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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.
