Doctor Who: Christopher Eccleston Regrets Not Continuing in Role of the Ninth Doctor

Christopher Eccleston may have had issues with Doctor Who executives, but not with the role of the Doctor. His decision to leave the show is something that he finds regrettable.

It is well known amongst fans of Doctor Who that Christopher Eccleston butt heads with the program’s executives while he was working on the show. In a recent interview with 774 ABC Melbourne’s Drive with Raf Epstein, however, the actor discusses the fact that he did not totally want to leave the role, but rather felt forced out due to conflicts.

He feels that the brevity of his time on the show was “tragic” because, due to his “great deal of professional pride,” he wanted a chance to improve upon his performance of a “beautiful character.” In an acknowledgement that he was unaccustomed to “playing light comedy,” he asserts that his performance would have markedly improved in a hypothetical second season.

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When Epstein credits Eccleston with the success of the revival of Doctor Who, the actor humbly passes that credit onto showrunner Russell T Davies. Despite this, Eccleston is “very proud” of being part of the popular phenomenon, despite “a really badly organized and certainly badly produced first series.”

Also in the interview, Eccleston mentions his interest in novel The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, the play adaptation of which new Doctor’s companion actor Pearl Mackie recently starred.

The entire interview can be heard below:

On October 5th, Eccleston will be doing a reading of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells with fellow actors MyAnna Buring and Nikki Amuka-Bird in the 10th London Literature Festival: Living in Future Times at the Royal Festival Hall in Southbank Centre in London, England. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

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Next: Andrew Smith Pens New War Doctor Adventure for Big Finish

There is, of course, still time for him to make a cameo on Doctor Who or one of its spin-offs, if he should ever get the inspiration to reprise his role. That would be fantastic, indeed.