Christopher Eccleston may have helped revive “Doctor Who” after a 16-year hiatus, but the 18 years he spent away from the franchise after his single season have done nothing to lessen his issues with the people in charge. Recently reuniting with Billie Piper (who co-starred opposite him as Rose Tyler) during a “Doctor Who” panel at the 2023 For the Love of Sci-Fi convention, Eccleston revealed during their talk what changes would be necessary for him to return to the show. “Sack Russell T. Davies. Sack Jane Tranter. Sack Phil Collinson. Sack Julie Gardner. And I’ll come back,” he said, referring to the show’s executive producers. “So can you arrange that?”
After “Doctor Who” went off the air in 1989 following a 26-year run, Eccleston was hired as the Ninth Doctor in what was intended as a series revival. He left after one season and has been very open over the years that while he still loves being associated with the character and the franchise — he even returned in May 2021 to voice the character in Big Finish’s audio series, “The Ninth Doctor Adventures” — he takes issue with the politics that went into creating the revival.
“The series was a mess, and it wasn’t to do with me or Billie, it was to do with the people who were supposed to make it,” he explained during the panel. “The BBC were like, ‘we’re gonna keep a big distance from this.’ And then as soon as it was a success they were all up close going ‘I was responsible for that,’ but they were all like at a distance.”
Christopher Eccleston’s bad blood ended up helping Doctor Who
Time heals all wounds, except those involving Time Lords. After leaving “Doctor Who” at the end of 2005, Christopher Eccleston has been less than subtle about his experience on the show, calling the shooting of the series a “nightmare” and claiming on the British morning show “Lorraine” (via Digital Spy) that he’d only return “when hell freezes over.”
Eccleston’s co-star Billie Piper has been far more moderate in her responses. Piper starred as Rose Tyler on the series for Seasons 1 and 2, and reprised her role in Season 4, as well as during episodes released in 2010 and 2013. During the For The Love of Sci-Fi panel, she stated that she’d be open to returning in the future, saying, “My kids are a bit older. I’d quite like to share all of that with them as well.”
Eccleston’s departure may have been rooted in creative and political differences with the BBC and the series’ producers, but his decision to exit the project helped define the revival as being bigger than just one actor. If Eccleston had stuck around, audiences may have associated his performance as the Doctor with the franchise, thus limiting the series to just one actor and one interpretation of the role. Though maybe not intentional, Eccleston’s departure paved the way for actors like David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whitaker, and Ncuti Gatwa to take on the part and make it their own. For that reason, we’re grateful that Eccleston knows how to hold a grudge.
