Steven Moffat releases Christopher Eccleston draft of the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special for charity
A scene from the original version of The Day of the Doctor, which had the Ninth Doctor feature instead of John Hurt’s new incarnation, is now available as part of a new compilation
Fans are getting a chance to look at alternative Doctor Who history, thanks to former series showrunner Steven Moffat.
You see, in an early draft of smash-hit 2013 anniversary episode The Day of The Doctor, Moffat had included Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor (who starred in the 2005 series) alongside David Tennant and Matt Smith’s incarnations, with Eccleston’s Time Lord filling a similar role to the one eventually brought to life by John Hurt in the finished story.
However, when Eccleston decided not to appear, Moffat rewrote the script and the story was buried – until now.
The screenwriter is releasing a portion of that draft script as part of a special charity project, and Whovians can finally see what the Ninth Doctor would have been up to had he turned up in the final battle for Earth, Gallifrey and his own soul.
The section of script featuring Eccleston is available to buy now as part of compilation book A Second Target for Tommy, a collection of Doctor Who-themed short stories intended to support author Tommy Donvaband as he recovers from cancer.
The concept of the book is loosely based on the popular Target publishing imprint, which provided novelisations of Doctor Who serials for decades and remains fondly remembered by fans. Aside from the script it will also include short stories from over two dozen writers including Jay Eales, Eddie Robson and Kate Orman.
A previous version of the project, A Target for Tommy, was released in 2016.
Anyway, if you fancy supporting this great cause you can buy the book now, and you might want to be quick – there are limited numbers of paperbacks, and as of yet there are no plans for an ebook edition. And sadly, unlike any combination of the Doctors you probably don’t have a time machine to go back and try again if you miss out…
Doctor Who returns to BBC1 this autumn
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
