Ninth Doctor

When Doctor Who was brought back in 2005, Christopher Eccleston was cast as the battle-scarred Ninth Doctor who brought a completely new angle to the beloved character. Series 1 depicted the Doctor as angry and filled with self-loathing as he thinks he's had to destroy his own people to defeat the Daleks, only to realise that it was all for nothing as the Daleks survived anyway. As such, he is apparently the last of his kind and now has to have his love of the universe rekindled by his experiences travelling with a 19-year old girl from London. Nonetheless, it is probably one of the most gripping character arcs for an incarnation of the Doctor in the history of the show, and watching the Ninth Doctor go from a self-hating rage machine to a kind, fun-loving adventurer is wonderful. He also has probably one of the best regeneration scenes in the series, that genuine smile he gives to Rose after finally accepting that he is a good man before he dies is one of Doctor Who's greatest moments.

Christopher Eccleston absolutely owns the role and despite never having seen an episode of Doctor Who before he makes the part work. He only had one season, which makes his era all the better in hindsight, though Big Finish have also given him more stories for those who really enjoy the character. Oddly enough, there seems to be a strange trend that new fans will 'skip nine', and start with Series 2, but most of them don't last very long as the spectre of Michael Grade hunts them down and kills them in their beds.