Chris Eccleston reveals the true reasons why he left Doctor Who

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[Kosh GTO]

It's a well-known fact in Doctor Who circles that Christopher Eccleston's (aka the Ninth Doctor) departure from the long-running sci-fi series was done in a, let's face it, less than amicable manner—though he always tried to be diplomatic about the whole thing. Until he recently opened up a bit more on his true reasons for leaving the show.

Though Eccleston has already made a few revelations concerning his departure, at first saying he didn't want to be typecast, and then citing that "I didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in," as part of his decision to leave, the actor went into further details while speaking at an event at the Theatre Royal in Haymarket, where Eccleston explained to an acting master class why he left Doctor Who.

According to the Bad Wilf podcast, the actor said:

    I left Doctor Who because I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye-to-eye with them. I didn't agree with the way things were being run. I didn't like the culture that had grown up around the series. So I left, I felt, over a principle.

    I thought to remain, which would have made me a lot of money and given me huge visibility, the price I would have had to pay was to eat a lot of [$@#!]. I'm not being funny about that. I didn't want to do that and it comes to the art of it, in a way. I feel that if you run your career and ... we are vulnerable as actors and we are constantly humiliating ourselves auditioning. But if you allow that to go on, on a grand scale you will lose whatever it is about you and it will be present in your work.

    If you allow your desire to be successful and visible and financially secure—if you allow that to make you throw shades on your parents, on your upbringing, then you're knackered. You've got to keep something back, for yourself, because it'll be present in your work.

    My face didn't fit and I'm sure they were glad to see the back of me.

WOW. That's what we call quittin' with the bullcrap. We're left wondering how long it'll take the BBC to reply to that.

Christopher Eccleston—who was, in our humble opinion, one of the reasons why Doctor Who became so hugely popular and successful again in 2005 when Russell T Davies brought the series back—also recently dashed the hopes of many fans when he let it be known that he wouldn't reprise the role for the upcoming 50th anniversary of the series.





I give him props for sticking to his beliefs and doing what he thinks is right. I would be curious to know what he meant by: "I didn't like the culture that had grown up around the series." His previous statements make me think he didn't like the atmosphere behind the scenes, but the comment is very generic. What didn't he like.

I thought he supposed to be in Game of Thrones? What happened to that?

[A-HK]

The original interview at Bad Wilf has a bit more detail.

Eccleston explains why he left Doctor Who

July 20, 2011

In an acting master class at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, Christopher Eccleston was asked why he left a such a high paid job as Doctor Who. He responded:

“I left Doctor Who because I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye-to-eye with them. I didn’t agree with the way things were being run. I didn’t like the culture that had grown up, around the series. So I left, I felt, over a principle.

“I thought to remain, which would have made me a lot of money and given me huge visibility, the price I would have had to pay was to eat a lot of shit. I’m not being funny about that. I didn’t want to do that and it comes to the art of it, in a way. I feel that if you run your career and– we are vulnerable as actors and we are constantly humiliating ourselves auditioning. But if you allow that to go on, on a grand scale you will lose whatever it is about you and it will be present in your work.

“If you allow your desire to be successful and visible and financially secure – if you allow that to make you throw shades on your parents, on your upbringing, then you’re knackered. You’ve got to keep something back, for yourself, because it’ll be present in your work.  A purity or an idealism is essential or you’ll become– you’ve got to have standards, no matter how hard work that is. So it makes it a hard road, really.

“You know, it’s easy to find a job when you’ve got no morals, you’ve got nothing to be compromised, you can go, ‘Yeah, yeah. That doesn’t matter. That director can bully that prop man and I won’t say anything about it’. But then when that director comes to you and says ‘I think you should play it like this’ you’ve surely got to go ‘How can I respect you, when you behave like that?’

“So, that’s why I left. My face didn’t fit and I’m sure they were glad to see the back of me. The important thing is that I succeeded. It was a great part. I loved playing him. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I’ve always acted for adults and then suddenly you’re acting for children, who are far more tasteful; they will not be bullshitted. It’s either good, or it’s bad. They don’t schmooze at after-show parties, with cocktails.”

B.W reporter Martyn