Communal Doctor Who watchalongs were a regular feature of early lockdown – and they are set to return next weekend in celebration of Christopher Eccleston’s return to the Whoniverse.

It was revealed yesterday that Eccleston would be reprising his role as the Ninth Doctor after 15 years for a new set of audio adventures, ands the news prompted Doctor Who Magazine’s Emily Cook to revive the popular watchalong events.

Cook took to Twitter to suggest a series one watchalong next Saturday at 7pm, offering fans three options to choose from – each one a different two-parter from Eccleston’s brief spell as the iconic Time Lord.

She wrote, “As there is so much love for the Ninth Doctor (always, but especially tonight) I’m going to suggest… A SERIES 1 TWEETALONG! Anyone up for that?”

As there is so much love for the Ninth Doctor (always, but especially tonight) I’m going to suggest…

A SERIES 1 TWEETALONG!

Anyone up for that?

Next Saturday 15th August @ 7pm.

You decide what we watch!

Which of these two-parters shall we revisit together? #DoctorWho

— Emily Cook (@Emily_Rosina) August 9, 2020

She then posted a poll allowing her followers to choose between Aliens of London, The Empty Child and Bad Wolf – and with over 2,500 votes already cast The Empty Child currently holds a significant lead, commanding more than a 50 per cent share of the vote.

News of Eccleston’s return drew an extremely enthusiastic response from Whovians, and so it is no surprise that Cook’s suggestion of another watchalong was greeted with a very positive reaction.

The watchalongs proved very popular in the 10 weeks they ran following the start of lockdown, with numerous big name guests tweeting along with a range of popular new Who episodes including The Day of the Doctor and Vincent and the Doctor.

Former showrunners Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies as well as previous doctors Matt Smith and David Tenant and a slew of ex-companions all took part in the events, while there were also some new mini-episodes created specially for the watchalongs.

The events originally drew to a close at the beginning of June with a double bill of series 10 episodes World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls marking the end, but the return of Eccleston was clearly too good an opportunity to pass up the chance of a further watchalong.

At this stage it appears this will be a one-off event but if feedback is positive (as it seems almost certain to be) then you never know…

Doctor Who returns to BBC One in late 2020/early 2021.