Revisiting The Ninth Doctor Audio Adventures: Series 1: Ravagers

Feature by Gustaff Behr.

Christopher Eccleston took on the role of the Ninth Doctor all the way back in 2005. His incarnation only lasted thirteen episodes, but even five regenerations later, the last survivor of the Time War is still held in high regard amongst fans. Eccleston’s exit however was marked by his firm decision never to return to the series, a sentiment upheld when he declined to appear in the fiftieth-anniversary special back in 2013.

Eccleston’s departure was surrounded by controversy. He has spoken candidly about the challenges he faced, including clashes with senior production staff and a working environment he found difficult. These issues led to his early exit and a prolonged estrangement from the franchise. In a 2018 interview, he revealed the personal and professional toll it took, stating, “I gave them a hit show and I left with dignity, and then they put me on a blacklist.”

According to Eccleston, the BBC dismissed him from the role without informing him, creating significant tension and resentment. He claimed that his departure was not voluntary and that he had been pushed out due to conflicts with senior staff over the working environment and direction of the show. Sometime later, RTD and the BBC were forced to issue a public apology for their deceitful comments regarding his exit.

Just like with Mr. C. Baker before him, by August 2020, time and fan interactions had begun to heal old wounds. After numerous convention appearances where fans expressed their love for his Doctor, Eccleston reconsidered his stance. Following discussions, he agreed to reprise his role. Eccleston said, “After 15 years, it will be exciting to revisit the Ninth Doctor’s world, bringing back to life a character I love playing.”

That was four years ago.

Now, with a new series set to reunite the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler in August 2025, it’s a good time to look back at the stories that defined Eccleston’s return to the role. Over the next couple of months, we’ll revisit what his second era as the Doctor has already given us.

Let’s dive in…

SPHERE OF FREEDOM

Each season in Eccleston’s second run is divided into four installments with three 1-hour stories. Each set has some kind of theme or through line. The first set of stories from “Season 1” form part of a trilogy and are meant to (along with the others) take place either before “Rose” or during the few seconds the Doctor left Rose behind before returning. However, the Doctor during these first three stories behaves closer to Eccleston’s portrayal later in the TV series, closer to “Boom Town”. This is supported by dialogue in the third story where the Doctor states the Time Lords are “long dead”, indicating that some time has passed since “The Day of the Doctor”.

Right from the start, “Sphere of Freedom” grabs your attention with the Doctor’s bold proclamation, “Right! I’ve done it. It’s happening!” It feels like he’s directly addressing the audience, acknowledging that Christopher Eccleston is indeed back as No. 9. The first part of this three-parter focuses on the Doctor’s mission to dismantle an Immersive Games business empire exploiting people on a place called the Sphere of Freedom. The plot is told out of sequence, with the framing device being the Doctor recounting to local vagabond, Audrey, how he met a young woman named Nova.

Nova, acting as a pseudo-companion, is a chef on the Sphere, essentially working as a slave for basic sustenance. Unfortunately, her character feels rather generic and doesn’t fully showcase her potential. In contrast, Audrey, who initially appears to be a homeless busybody listening to the Doctor’s tale, becomes more intriguing. Though Audrey seems insufferable at first, this characterization is a deliberate ploy by the writer, Nicholas Briggs, to mislead the audience, so…well played.

The crux of the Doctor’s mission is to dismantle the interactive games held on the Sphere due to the presence of time eddys, which are abducting people and displacing them in time. One such incident sends the Doctor to 1950s England where a Roman legionary has killed 300 innocent people, prompting a military intervention.

The episode fluctuates between two primary storylines: The Roman chaos and the events on the Sphere with Nova and the Doctor. These competing subplots create a sense of disjointedness. Half of the episode’s runtime is dedicated to the Roman subplot, which is arguably more engaging, while the other half deals with the Doctor and Nova’s endeavors. The framing device feels somewhat redundant too, adding little to the story and unnecessarily fragmenting the plot. It might have been more effective if omitted or told in sequence.

Another issue arises in the Roman subplot where the Doctor goes to great lengths to prevent the military from killing the bloodthirsty Romans, despite their massacre of 300 innocents. This feels somewhat insensitive on the Doctor’s part, as his actions appear to show sympathy for the enemy, while the families of the victims are never mentioned or given any attention.

While “Sphere of Freedom” is a bold and complex reintroduction to the Ninth Doctor’s new adventures, the episode features engaging elements and strong performances. However, its convoluted plot structure and certain character choices might leave audiences with mixed feelings.

CATACLYSM

This follow-up is much weaker, with the first half of the runtime focused on Audrey goading and taunting the Doctor as he tries to figure out why his plan to stop the matter eating antagonists of the three-parter, the Ravagers, is failing. Her mocking comes across as juvenile and serves little purpose other than to prolong the story. It turns out, she was simply trying to upset the Doctor so that, after travelling back to the past, he would provoke a younger version of Audrey into action, which leads to the crisis in the first story.

Yes, you heard that right. The Ninth Doctor we met in the previous story is the younger version of the same Doctor who had already saved the universe before the events of this story. This ‘current’ incarnation accidentally traveled to his own future (due to time eddies) and disrupted his future self’s plans, causing the universe’s timeline to be altered—or at least, that’s as much as I can make sense of it. The narrative in these first three stories is incredibly hard to follow.

While the first half is full of goading and taunting, the second half follows the Doctor and Nova as they travel back in time to meet a younger Audrey who has just learned about the Ravagers’ existence. Despite more plot happening here, it still feels shallow and tedious.

Nova doesn’t fare any better here, despite getting more screen time. Her performance in “Cataclysm” only highlights the generic nature of her character. She asks all the right questions, thinks all the correct thoughts, is independent, and doesn’t take any nonsense from the Doctor. However, these attributes can be applied to nearly every companion introduced since 2005. Nothing stands out.

In the final scene, Audrey activates a weapon to destroy the Ravagers, only for the Doctor to comment that “this is where everything went cataclysmically wrong.” True, but if Audrey had just used her brain and explained the situation properly the first time, we wouldn’t even need a third episode.

FOOD FIGHT

Despite two rocky installments, this third chapter actually stands out as the strongest. The plot threads, convoluted as they are, are tied up nicely in a bow that makes sense. It’s also the easiest episode to follow, which is very nice.

The various misplaced characters in the previous stories are finally brought together and I must say that their bickering throughout the story served as a funny distraction from the more serious elements at play. I also appreciate how this conclusion gave Nova more to do as the so-called leader of this group. While the characters often come across as fleeting and insubstantial, the script furnishes them with genuinely witty dialogue.

The script also develops Eccleston’s antagonistic relationship with Audrey. As the episode progresses, he gains a deeper understanding of her actions, prompting a shift in his opinion of her. The script also underscores Audrey’s struggles and explains her distrustfulness of the Doctor. I maintain that the plot could have reached its resolution much earlier had the characters engaged in a straightforward conversation, but Briggs logic proofs his script with timey-wimey shenanigans.

As mentioned, we also learn why the Ravagers behave the way they do. Although the explanation is somewhat simplistic and predictable, it is effective and logical, which is important. I do have a hiccup with one very critical deduction made by the Doctor towards the episode’s conclusion. The story withholds key information, rendering it impossible for the audience to deduce the outcome independently, which is a regrettable flaw in the episode.

Due to its unconventional framing device, non-linear storytelling, and intricate plot, Ravagers may not be the most welcoming entry point for newcomers’ eager to get into the Ninth Doctor Adventures.