Yahoo News This is how Eccleston would fit into Doctor Who 50th ep
Doctor Who's epic 50th anniversary celebration 'The Day of the Doctor' is pretty brilliant as it stands, but now Steven Moffat is giving fans a taste of how the episode would have played out if his first plans had come together.
Originally, Moffat included Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor in his first draft of the episode, but rewrote the script to feature John Hurt's War Doctor when Eccleston declined to appear.
Earlier this year, we learned that Moffat was going to publish an excerpt of the original script for the first time in A Second Target For Tommy – a collection of Doctor Who short stories being published by Obverse Books, with all the proceeds going to support writer Tommy Donbavand, who is battling cancer.
So, with Eccleston starring as Nine in the moment when the Doctor first meets the Moment (played by Billie Piper as Rose Tyler in the episode, but called 'Raggedy Girl' in the original script), just how differently would the scene have played out?
Well, according to the script (as seen on Radio Times) not actually all that much. Instead, we would have just gotten a few more nods to Eccleston's run in the form of commenting on his 'big ears' and dropping in the odd "love" every now and then.
But, mainly, the basics of the story remain the same, with Nine telling the Moment not to sit on the most dangerous weapon in the universe, and warning that a bad thing is about to happen here.
Moffat has previously said that he was "so depressed" when Eccleston turned down the special and later added that he "immediately regretted" the decision to invent a new doctor in the War Doctor instead, before adding that "that was the right thing to do" after all.
And, really, while it would have been interesting to see Eccleston play a part in the episode, we don't think we're prepared to give up having the very brilliant, late John Hurt as the War Doctor.
(Sorry, Eccleston.)
Series 11 of Doctor Who will launch on BBC One this autumn. It'll be the first under new showrunner Chris Chibnall, with Jodie Whittaker as the new Doctor.
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