The Ninth Doctor (played by Christopher Eccleston) was particularly exciting to old hands and new, as this was the beginning of the 'reboot' of the show in 2005. This new regeneration was a ruthless, edgy fellow, forged by his experiences in the Great Time War and believing himself to be the last Time Lord in existence. Emotionally-scarred, he mellowed over time due mostly to his interactions with his companion Rose, a London shop assistant. Eventually he realised that, whatever he might have had to do, he was a good guy, a force for good in the universe once more.

Chapter 1: The Ninth Doctor and Companions looks at both the Doctor and those who travelled with him, starting of course with a very psychological analysis of the Doctor himself, complete with character sheet. He started alone, but soon met up with Rose Tyler, and her effect on him is charted here. There's also Adam Mitchell, who last but for one adventure, and Captain Jack Harkness - not a companion, more of a kindred spirit. Rose's boyfriend, Mikey Smith, and her mother Jackie also feature here. Each gets a description, backstory and character sheet. Finally there are some notes on the current TARDIS, markedly different in appearance - at least inside - than previous ones, even if it is still a battered police call box on the outside.

Next, Chapter 2: Playing in the Ninth Doctor's Era provides a lot of information to support running adventures in this time, if not with these characters as well. Earth has gone the better part of 15 years without seeing much of the Doctor - things were quite different for him and Earth was unaccustomed to him as well! The universe as a whole, meanwhile, is still reeling from the Great Time War whose ripples affect memory and what actually happened, which make various discrepancies arise. Have fun with those! A lot of the discussion assumes that you will be using the adventures discussed later in your own game, but even if you are not, there's plenty of use here.

The remainder of the book presents the adventures the Ninth Doctor had, thirteen of them (including a couple of double episodes). This set of adventures is the first of the Doctor's adventures to have a distinct series arc, called Bad Wolf, over and above recurring individuals, situations or even villains. In each case, there's an adventure synopsis, notes on running the adventure as is, details of notable enemies and allies (and tech), and ideas for adventures spawned by whatever was going on. Plenty to get your teeth into here, however you intend to use this material. Wider concepts are discussed as well, so it is well worth reading through the lot at least once, whatever your intended use. Definitely worth adding to your bookshelf!

Return to The Ninth Doctor Sourcebook page.

Reviewed: 18 January 2016