Christopher Eccleston

Trivia

• One of his co-stars in Let Him Have It (1991) was Mark McGann, who is the younger brother of Paul McGann, his immediate predecessor as the Doctor.
• Often collaborates with Phyllida Lloyd on stage.
• A very keen runner.
• Of the ten actors to play the Doctor in "Doctor Who" (1963), Doctor Who (1996) (TV) and "Doctor Who" (2005), he is the only one who has never worked with Nicholas Courtney, who played Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the former from 1968 to 1989 as well as in numerous Big Finish audio dramas.
• He passed his driving test in January 2004 but is only qualified to drive an automatic.
• Christopher is a vegetarian.
• Is one of three "Doctor Who" actors who portrayed The Doctor on TV to appear in an episode of "Casualty" (1986). The others are Colin Baker (I) and Sylvester McCoy.
• Turned down a role in Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998).
• The BBC has recently admitted that they announced his departure too early. It was agreed back in January that he would only do one series and a Christmas special. The announcement of his depature should have be made about halfway through the new series run.
• Emailed old friend writer/producer Russell T. Davies and asked to be put on the list of possibles for the title role in the revival of "Doctor Who" (2005) series. He has claimed in interviews that he was not a fan of the original "Doctor Who" (1963) and was really attracted to take the part because of his admiration for Davies as a writer.

Quotes

• "Did you ever believe that seven o'clock on a Saturday night there'd be a Manc on one side and a Geordie on the other? When I was growing up, everybody sounded like Tom Baker."
• "The best thing about "Doctor Who" (2005) for me has been the response I've had from children, both in the street and the number of letters and drawings of me and Daleks, which are all over my wall at home. In all the 20 years I've been acting, I've never enjoyed a response so much as the one I've had from children and I'm carrying that in my heart forever."
• "I enjoy American television. I've got three particular favorites - "The Larry Sanders Show" (1992), "Deadwood" (2004), and "NYPD Blue" (1993). I admire them all for very different reasons. One's a very broad, naturalistic satiric comedy. Deadwood's a fantastic take on the Western genre, and NYPD Blue, I thought the writing and the acting was extraordinary."
• "If I had my choice, I would exclusively do theatre, if I could justify it financially. Theatre in my country is by and large very lowly paid, so actors have to supplement it with television and film work, if they're fortunate enough to be able to do that."
• "Theatre is an actor's medium. Film and television is primarily a director's medium. When you act in the theatre you get a four to six week rehearsal period, where you can build a character, and of course each evening when you give a performance, you have the final edit. So, theatre acting is my great love. But, I've had some very interesting and rewarding experiences in front of the camera."
• "My bony face is like a car crash. I haven't got good looks, just weird looks, enough to frighten the fiercest monster."
• "I'm different from the other Doctors in that I'm northern. All the others spoke with this RP accent [received pronunciation] - maybe it was that that put me off. I think that it's good that we teach kids that people who speak like that can be heroic."
• "I care more about telly because it made me an actor and there's a much more immediate response to TV. You can address the political or cultural fabric of your country."
• "I came out of school in '79 when unemployment was really starting to bite, went back and redid my O-levels, there was a play going on and I was corralled into it."
• "Culturally we've always felt it important to express the life of the country, and working class comes into that."