Movies - TV
The On-Set Drama That Made Christopher Eccleston Leave Doctor Who
By MICHAEL BOYLE
Compared to other Doctors who were on “Doctor Who” for three seasons, the Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, was only around for 13 episodes. While the actor has returned to record the audio series "The Ninth Doctor Adventures,” Eccleston probably won’t return to the television series any time soon based on his previous experiences with it.
Demanding Hours
The demanding filming conditions for “Doctor Who” have the main actor working long hours for up to nine months at a time. As Eccleston was the first one to star in the revival series, he didn’t know what he was getting into and noted that “I think it's fair to say that David Tennant, who came after me, understood that much more than me: the size of the show."
Tension With Davies
While Eccleston and then showrunner Russel T. Davies previously had a good professional relationship on the 2003 series, “Second Coming,” the relationship soured during “Doctor Who.” Eccleston explained that “if somebody asks me to kiss their ass, I bite it” and that there were disagreements about how his character was written.
Gripes About The BBC
He has also mentioned that in light of how the BBC treated him after his departure, his “relationship with the BBC over “Doctor Who” has not healed. They created a quote, and they attributed it to me, which said I was tired [...] Any other producer reading that would go 'Oh, we're not going to employ Christopher Eccleston because he gets tired.’”
Praise For Moffat
Despite these negative memories, Eccleston still has love for the Doctor character, especially with the way Steven Moffat writes him. His approval of Moffat continued long after he left the show, praising Moffat’s writing in the 50th-anniversary episode as "immaculate" and "a brilliant working of Steven Moffat's imagination."