Ten years ago today, the BBC relaunched their quirky science fiction serial, Doctor Who. At best, they hoped that it would revive the property without being an embarrassment, but the series became such a success that it helped usher in a new age of entertainment that celebrated the nerd and broke down long-standing barriers between British and American television.

So, whether you like it or not, Doctor Who is kind of a big deal. And it owes a lot of its success to Christopher Eccleston.

We probably have to back up a little. I know it’s hard to believe now, but in 2005, it was not so fun being a nerd. Comic books still weren’t all that cool, and it would be a year until Marvel even had the rights to make Iron Man. Star Trek had yet to be rebooted and Star Wars fans were smarting from the trauma of the prequel trilogy. At best, we had Harry Potter, and at worst, we were still getting swirlies. So, when the BBC decided to relaunch Doctor Who, it didn’t sound like such a great idea.

At its best Doctor Who has always been a deeply imaginative and revolutionary science fiction show. At its worst, it’s been farcical nonsense that displays Great Britain at its cheesiest. For an entire generation, Who was not only off the air, but it was far left of the zeitgeist. It was associated with cheap special effects and buffoonish characters. It was a joke. In 1996, Fox and the BBC tried in vain to revive the franchise with a Doctor Who set in San Francisco, but it was a no-go.

Then, Russell T. Davies, the writer behind Queer as Folk, made it his mission to revive his beloved Doctor Who in his native Wales. It was a gamble, but it paid off because Davies understood what had worked and what hadn’t in the original series, and because he hired the right leading man for the job.

The Doctor is an immortal Time Lord who is constantly “regenerating.” This means that he constantly being reborn in new bodies with new character quirks. That also means that every actor (or actress) should be able to play the Doctor, but Eccleston was the perfect man to bridge the gap between Doctor Who‘s naysayers, its stalwart fanatics, and a new generation of viewers.

Every part of Eccleston’s Doctor was there to bridge the gap between what Doctor Who had been and what entertainment was in 2005. He portrayed the Doctor as half no-nonsense action hero and half quirky wizard. He was a man simultaneously haunted by the past and optimistic about the future. Even his costume — an iconic part of every single Doctor’s identity — was safe and comforting in its pop cultural familiarity. He wasn’t clad in an outrageous patchwork suit, nor did he wear anything that was definably “cool.” He wore a black t-shirt and leather jacket. It was the uniform of a guy who could take charge and handle any nightmare.

Eccleston’s introduction to the series is rooted more in creepy thrillers and high-stakes action movies than it is in the fairy tale wonder that defines most of Who. After being introduced to the thoroughly normal, if not also charming, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), we see her turn into the prey of murderous mannequins. It’s a bizarre set up that only works because it’s shot like a horror film. Then, a mysterious stranger saves the day.

What Davies knew, and what a lot of naysayers had forgotten, was that Doctor Who had been much more than a goofy fantasy show. For thousands of kids, it was a truly terrifying thriller. The early BBC used all their creativity to make a show that didn’t always capture the imagination, but also scared the bejesus out of small British kids. The quirkiness of the show wasn’t just a reflection of absurd British humor, but a buffer to break the tension of otherwise unbearably frightening scenes.

Eccleston’s take on the Doctor expanded on this tone. Even in the midst of battle mode, he is quick with a non sequitur or a loony grin. It’s not like he was gallivanting around town in an outlandishly long boho scarf or brandishing a kitschy question mark umbrella, but he was hinting at the quirk that was to come. His approach eased viewers into a space where they could buy this Doctor as an action hero, but that wasn’t too far from Matt Smith’s hipster daydream boy in a fez.

Ten years ago, the reboot of Doctor Who was a massive experiment and thankfully it was a success. Thanks to Davies’ vision and Eccleston’s accessibility, the show found a cult audience in the States that snowballed over the years. The thirst from American viewers grew so great that BBC America was eventually able to negotiate a contract where Stateside audiences got Who on the same day as their British counterparts. This might not sound like a big deal, but we still live in a world where a season of Downton Abbey airs three months after it’s over in the UK.

Since Doctor Who‘s revival, we’ve also seen an uptick in British programming on streaming and a bounce in American interest in the BBC’s programming. In fact, Sherlock (and Benedict Cumberbatch’s career) only happened because Doctor Who‘s writers were bored on the train from London to Cardiff. Most importantly, there’s a new generation of science fiction fans who are proud of their nerdy predilictions. This is all thanks to the first season of Doctor Who and that season owes a lot, if not everything, to Christopher Eccleston. [Watch Doctor Who]

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[Photos: Everett Collection]