Christopher Eccleston Explains Why He Left Doctor Who After One Series

He was (and still is) my favorite doctor. 

9 > 10.   Flames aside, I respect the man down to the ground. 

Oh well, I respect him for his decisions… 

The producers and showrunners have all mostly changed since his run. I’ll bet if they went to him now and appealed to him on a different level, they could get him for the 50th anniversary. I hope so. I really liked him as the Doctor.

It is very sad to read that there was bullying on the set. I also respect Eccleston greatly for not tolerating such bad behavior. He was a wonderful Doctor and I truly hope that things have changed on the set for everyone. 

“…some people think he never really fit the role of the Doctor…”

“Some people” are idiots.  He gave the Doctor a needed edge.  You could really believe that his was the regeneration that had fought in the Time War and carried the scars of it right up to the end.

Like scarecroe said, I hope he can be convinced to come back for the 50th.  A new riff on “The Three Doctors” would be, well, fantastic.

I loved the 9th Doctor, he was a great way to bring me back into the series. Correction, I remember my parents watching it.. but i never really did. He made me love the series. It would have been wonderful for him to bring him back for the anniversary episode, I’m hoping that he changes his mind. I just can only see his face when he’d see what he’d turned into. HEE.

On the other hand, dude was in G.I. Joe. You were saying something about principles and respect? Maybe Stephen Sommers is just a really sweet guy, directing talent notwithstanding.

Eh, when i watched gi joe I was so brain pained that I didn’t even notice he was in it! Seriously!

Eh, when i watched gi joe I was so brain pained that I didn’t even notice he was in it! Seriously!

Nine was my first, and while I have different favorites now, he’ll always hold that special First Doctor Spot in my heart(s). I’m disappointed that Eccleston is (for now) completely dismissing the idea of a cameo as Nine for the 50th, because I’m willing to bet things have changed significantly since he was on set, but I still respect him. I just wish he didn’t seem to give off this feeling that DW is something distasteful. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ve always felt from reading his interviews that he wishes he hadn’t done it. Don’t know how much of that is related to fan recognition & “typecasting” and how much is related to his experience on set, though.

Just goes to show: Not even the Doctor could have saved GI Joe.

I’ve been a Whovian for a year now and I’ve never gotten around to watching any of Nine’s episodes.  I guess I was introduced to Ten and then fell in love with Eleven and then….I don’t know.  What’s Nine like?  Does anyone have any good episodes from Series 1 to recommend?  I know The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances and then the two-part finale are supposed to be good, but beyond that I don’t really know how to start, unless I was going to watch the whole season through in order.

Nine is the best.  If you’re a Whovian, then it would beWHOve you to watch the whole season.

Eh…No huge loss. He was fine and all and did get me into the series, but there’s no comparison to Tennant and Smith, just none at all. I can’t believe there are people who think he’s the best.

Then again there are people who legitimately liked Donna Noble so I guess anything can happen.

I like your pun, haha.   I don’t know, though, it would probably beWHOve me to watch a lot of things I haven’t yet, though.  I’ve probably only seen 1/2 to 3/4 of Ten’s run because I just watched whatever random episodes I felt like seeing, and I’ve seen next to no classic Who.  I only started watching full seasons because I was actually watching Eleven-era as it aired.  

Hey, I like Donna Noble!    Eccleston is just being a butthurt brat… Sory if ANYONE likes him, but The 50th he could let bygones be bygones and just get with it!

I really love Nine, and like others, I have a special love for him because he’s my first Doctor. However, his season is just not actually good in the sense that there are many episodes I want to watch over and over again, it’s more that Rose and Nine have fun chemistry and are good characters and good actors than that I care much about the plots. Also, the production values in that season are poor and sometimes off-putting.

So, besides The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances (which I recommend watching even if you see no other episodes of that season)…I  would not recommend watching the whole season in order. I find the first episode almost unwatchable (though you could make, like, a 5 minute clip show of it that would contain some of my favorite lines and moments in the season, as an episode, it’s bad). I like: The Unquiet Dead; Dalek; and… maybe that’s it.

The two-part finale is okay, but not as good as my favorite finales (seasons 3, 4, and 5) and doesn’t make a ton of sense without watching The Long Game. Also, my thing with DW finales is that they are sometimes not, like, killer episodes in the sense that Blink or Human Nature / Family of Blood are, because while amazing, they are more amazing if you’ve seen the whole season and the characters and the villain before. In season 3, would the finale be as amazing and satisfying if you didn’t know the background of the Doctor being alone, all the mentions of Saxon, the downfall of Harriet Jones, the Doctor’s relationship with Martha, his sadness over losing Rose, the Doctor/companion relationship, etc? Of course it would be an enjoyable episode without that, but it wouldn’t have the same resonance. I think it’s the same with the season 1 finale, it’s so much better if you’ve seen Nine’s sadness, his love for Rose, the stuff in the Long Game, other spoilery stuff, and of course, Jack before he became the king of emo. If you like Unquiet Dead, Dalek, and Child / Dances, try out The End of the World, The Long Game, and Fathers Day. Only if you can get a kick out of those would I then recommend trying the rest of the season.

Sorry this got so long, it’s just hard to explain / balance my love for Nine and how that season got me into Who with how poor most of the episodes in that season are.

/end really specific and long answer to Maiasaura’s question

My love for Donna noble is beyond words. She is SO AMAZING. Doctordonna forever!

“[H]ow many of us can really complain about David Tennant?”

The answer is (at least) one.

Frankly as long as they can rope in Paul McGann (8th Doctor) for the special, I will be doing backflips of joy.

Watched whatever random episodes were on? Not sure you can call yourself a Whovian then!

*don’t hit me*

Ninth is a very different character to Eleventh and especially Tenth. Much darker than Tenth, less silly than Eleventh. He was a great Doctor and it’s very sad that Eccelstone didn’t stay on for longer and that, because everyone and their dog worships Tenth so almost all the BBC books and fanfiction are about him, completely ignoring the vast amount of uncovered ground between the end of the film and the beginning of the revamped series.

I’d recommend starting at the beginning and going on from there XD

He was excellent because he was dark yet quirky, like the great Doctors of old, rather than just quirky like Tenth. There was an undercurrent of darkness, despair and self loathing that was never very evident in Tenth’s episodes and has been done very heavy handedly in Eleventh’s (I speak specifically of The Beast Below, which gave a beautiful taster of the Doctor’s darkness and his fight with, ney flight from complete surrender to utter depression). This is by no means Tennant or Smith’s fault though.

Tennant was rarely allowed the chance to do the dark stuff, even though he was clearly capable of carrying it off (see his performance as Hamlet). Smith’s Doctor has been mostly wrapped up in mega adventure quite devoid of any of the psychological and sociological exploration that makes good sci-fi and made good Doctor Who.

Ninth was still close to previous Doctors, before RTD completely tore the character away from its origins in an attempt to make it his own. He’s not the best (because ‘best’ is not a word you can use when talking about the Doctor, only “favourite”), however he was very much made in the same mould as other big favourites, especially Fourth. Yes, he was VERY much like Fourth (sans the wooden acting).

Donna Noble was great because she wasn’t in love with the Doctor (eugh) like Rose and wasn’t an utter wet blanket like Martha. She was strong and sassy and took no crap from anyone, not even the Doctor. She was an utter breath or fresh air whose baton has been taken up by Amy (who fancies the Doctor but is by no means in love with him).

Same… and I can barely remember the movie. I love his radio plays though and his Doctor is a beautiful character.

If they ask him, I’m sure he’ll do it. He seems to pretty much say yes to anything… *cough*Lesbian Vampire Killers*cough*Queen of the Damned*cough*

Thank you!  That’s a very helpful answer.  

Apologies for the late reply…I guess I don’t get notifications with OpenID and so I have to manually check to see if anyone’s answered my comments.  

I won’t hit you!  I do think I can call myself a Whovian, though–I really love what I have seen of the show, especially the Eleventh Doctor episodes–although perhaps what I actually am is an Eleven-era fan.  I dunno, I just never felt like I had to watch the episodes in any particular order, so I just watched what sounded interesting to me. I mean, do you have to have seen all of Doctor Who to be a fan?  I don’t think so, especially since the show is getting close to being 50 years old–that would be quite the rewatch!

Thanks for the tips about Nine! 

He was good as the Doctor, but as a person I do not know.

He was, and is, my favorite doctor. I was incredibly sad to see him go, and even more so to find out it was because of bullying. I did enjoy Tennant, but not nearly as much. As for Smith, he’s good, but I usually end up staring where his eyebrows should be (I don’t know why it gets to me, but it does).

Eccleston was darker and much more sarcastic. Not saying 10 and 11 don’t have their moments, but they usually come off more as witty ten sarcastic. I just liked the air he had about him. Though, I think I’m partial to him as an actor as a whole. It is a shame he isn’t considering the anniversary, but I can certainly understand putting something behind you and not looking back.

And geez everyone, quit with the hate.

Actually, most people assume the 8th Doctor fought the Time War, not the 9th Doctor. The Eccleston Doctor is portrayed as the regeneration /after/ the Time War, which is why he has survivor’s guilt. It’s also why in the episode, “Rose” he is surprised by his appearance; the suggestion being that he’s only newly regenerated.

By the end of his run, Eccleston was changing from the ‘unfeeling/cold’ guy who survived the Time Wars to someone who was seeing new potential for the Universe. Felt he was just starting to really ‘hit it’ as far as the character. While Tennet was ‘fantastic’; Eccleston was pretty fantastic in his own way.

Donna’s departure was the ONLY one that brought tears to my eyes! She is by far my favorite companion, followed closely by Amy and Rory.

Mine too, actually. I hadn’t seen an episode of Dr. Who since the ’70s, then one day I was flipping through TV options on an airplane and came across Eccleston as the Doctor …

He was, by far, my least favorite of the recent doctors. No loss.

I loved 9 because you felt the darkness, the sadness & the hope warring inside of him. 10 was mostly blah. So serious yet missing (for the most part) the conflicting emotions that emanated out of 9. With 11 (who I at first thought would be too young, too silly)You again feel so drawn in to his inner conflicts that self hatred, the sincere desire to have friends (companions) yet not want to put them in danger & doing it any way. The guilt left in him for every being (except maybe Daleks) that he has ever had to cause harm too along with the pain of being ‘alone’ forever due to being the last Time Lord. Matt Smith was the perfect choice to show The Doctors darkness… but without Christopher Ecclestons 9, Matts 11 would not have been possible. IMHO

Hey Remki, totally off topic, but where is your avatar from?

I always thought that Eccleston brought the right degree of edge and even anger to the role. It is good to think he stood up against bullying.

I like Eccleston as the Doctor. Sorry to hear that there was negative stuff happening.

Eccleston > Tennant. I can’t really complain about Tennant, but I can bemoan an Eccleston-less franchise.