Christpher Eccelston Comes Clean About DW.

[Big Orange]

Ouch:

At an acting master class, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Christopher Eccleston was asked why he left, such a high paid job like 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 loose, 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 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 the suddenly, your 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”

* I get the feeling he's bursting his spleen on Keith Boak; I've heard rumours that he had, shall we say, animated rows on set from a while back. Other things have gone on - the two producers for the Moffat era until now, Beth Willis and Piers Wenger, have both left under a bit of a cloud.

[Soontir C'boath]

Well at least he left when people still wanted him on rather than Tenant whom I ended up dying for him to leave.

[FaxModem1]

So, its okay for a prop man to be told what to do, but how dare an actor be told? That sounds hypocritical.

[Stark]

Did you even read the article? His whole point is that in order to stay he would have to condone or implicitly support that sort of behaviour. The word used is 'compromised' ethically.

[Lonestar]

So, its okay for a prop man to be told what to do, but how dare an actor be told? That sounds hypocritical.

The word he used was "bully". It sounds like he felt awkward about being treated like any other actor while the director was an asshole to everyone else on the set.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well at least he left when people still wanted him on rather than Tenant whom I ended up dying for him to leave.

Lots of people still liked Tenant (just look at all the idiots on the internet saying they want him back instead of Smith). Just because you got tired of him doesn't mean the audience as a whole did.

[Soontir C'boath]

Well at least he left when people still wanted him on rather than Tenant whom I ended up dying for him to leave.

Lots of people still liked Tenant (just look at all the idiots on the internet saying they want him back instead of Smith). Just because you got tired of him doesn't mean the audience as a whole did.

Well then, it's a good thing I never said "WE" but "I". I should add in my anecdotal view that I've yet heard a good amount of people say they wanted Eccleston gone either.

[The Romulan Republic]

"at least he left when people still wanted him on rather than Tenant..." seems to pretty clearly suggest that he was generally unpopular, so if I misunderstood your intent perhaps that's not my fault.

[Soontir C'boath]

"at least he left when people still wanted him on rather than Tenant..." seems to pretty clearly suggest that he was generally unpopular, so if I misunderstood your intent perhaps that's not my fault.

Who Tennant? Yes, I agree that's what I meant.

What? 100% of the fans must be Tennant haters for me to be right? Seems I don't know what you're on about then.

[The Romulan Republic]

No, I am not saying 100% have to hate Tenant for you to be right. That is either a misinterpretation or a straw man. But you're suggesting that Tenant was widely unpopular, when my experience is that a lot of people really like him and wish he was still staring (I myself love all of the new series stars and didn't much care either way about Tenant leaving, for the record). I have noticed that Tenant may be somewhat unpopular on these forums, but that's a pretty damn slim slice of the total population.

Edit: Also, you have provided no evidence whatsoever of Tenant's widespread unpopularity.

[Soontir C'boath]

Well considering it seems both of us are in a battle of anecdotes, it doesn't really seem to matter which way anyway then.

[The Romulan Republic]

Fair enough.

[Big Orange]

Well at least he left when people still wanted him on rather than Tenant whom I ended up dying for him to leave.

Lots of people still liked Tenant (just look at all the idiots on the internet saying they want him back instead of Smith).

I wouldn't say they're idiots for liking Tennant and most of his episodes, but they're rather naive to think he was going to go on and on forever when he was easily the longest serving Doctor since Tom Baker (according to this chart) and he should be more like a nutty wizard after playing to death being the Son of God.

Anyway speaking of opinions from other forums, there's some guys who like Matt Smith and impressed by "The End of Time", but left rather cold by Steven Moffat as the show runner. And should Chrisopher Eccleston's controversial, blunt comments in this thread's article be completely taken at face value, have they been verified elsewhere? Also one partial reason why Eccleston left and Tennant stayed was that Eccleston was not really a childhood fan of the show unlike Tennant, but even judging by Chris' scathing comments he may have made, he didn't really dislike his character and stories, instead he disliked some of the pushy people behind the scenes and subjectively just did not like the atmosphere on set.

[The Romulan Republic]

I wouldn't say they're idiots for liking Tennant and most of his episodes, but they're rather naive to think he was going to go on and on forever when he was easily longest serving Doctor since Tom Baker (according to this chart) and some people here want him to be more like a nutty wizard than the Son of God.

I don't think one has to be an idiot to like Tennant or his episodes (hell, I like Tennant), but I am so tired of people bashing Smith and saying they want Tennant back. Like you said, he was never going to stay forever, and anyway I like Smith as well.

[Stark]

You know, Tennant said he'd love to stay for ages and ages and ages, and then after banging a few cast members decided to leave after a season of horror. I don't think it's hard to look for a motive here.

BO might not be big on analysis, but even he cogitates that any backlash against Smith will be bundled up with a general backlash against the show's change in face and style. Some people who 'hate Smith' just hate constant River Song wank, stupid endings, soap opera, or even just bow ties. At some point in the future the plebs will eventually get the perspective they need to separate the change to Smith from the change in the show overall.

[Aniron]

Well at least he left when people still wanted him on rather than Tenant whom I ended up dying for him to leave.

Lots of people still liked Tenant (just look at all the idiots on the internet saying they want him back instead of Smith). Just because you got tired of him doesn't mean the audience as a whole did.

I like him better than Elephant Man. I tried watching series 5 but it was just way too serious for me to continue. I laughed my ass off all through the seasons with Eccelston and Tennant. Not so much with Smith and Moffat taking the reigns.

[Stark]

I think that sort of thing is really interesting; Eccelston's season was pretty dark, but it was still full of laughs; S5 seemed to be aiming both for pathos and slapstick, and missed both. I don't think Smith can really be blamed, though, much as Tennant can't be blamed for the dogshit he had to work with later on.

[Batman]

That's interesting, given Eccleston's was easily the darkest of the NoWho Doctors so far.

[Aniron]

That's interesting, given Eccleston's was easily the darkest of the NoWho Doctors so far.

"The Empty Child" is downright hilarious. A show about a guy who can reincarnate and travel through time to fix wrongdoings works better as camp because you can't take that premise seriously. Moffat wrote some good episodes, but then things got too serious, River Song (who was already annoying during Tennant's reign) got involved, and it turned out that she's a time lord. What?

[Batman]

That's interesting, given Eccleston's was easily the darkest of the NoWho Doctors so far.

"The Empty Child" is downright hilarious.

Actually 'The Empty Child' is pretty scary. In fact I can't think of a single hilarious Eccleston episode, including the ones that should have been (like the overweight continuously farting aliens ones).

A show about a guy who can reincarnate and travel through time to fix wrongdoings works better as camp because you can't take that premise seriously.

Says you. Looked pretty serious during s1 of NuWho. I noticed no hilarity about the Bad Wolf concept.

[Stark]

That's interesting, given Eccleston's was easily the darkest of the NoWho Doctors so far.

Right, but there is still humour, even in the finale. The level of 'zany' has gone up, but this hasn't increased the level of humour.

[Shroom Man 777]

Yes. I've ranted a whole lot about how Doctor Destro is awesome, and part of it is that while he can be mopey and broody and all SRS BSNSS, he can also have funny bits like "lots of planets have a North" and "please stop farting while I'm saving the world" , etcetera, and the way he acted it and the way it was written actually worked. Whereas the Tennant and Smith bits of zany whiz-bang clever witty funneh just come off as forced and too... fannish? Too much attention-seeking? Too self-indulgent? Just too much.

And they always go "RARGH I AM THE DOCTORB! FEAR MEEE!". Whereas Doctor Destro never really did that, until circumstances really pushed him and shits, which meant that whenever he made grandiose proclamations it actually counted and had emotional significance and shits.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Eccleston's Doctor is the only one that I ever saw terrify a Dalek by sheer force of personality. That should tell you something about his acting chops.

[Shroom Man 777]

The fact that he spends a whole lot of his time tortured by his past and in considerable anguish, rather than being a stupid fop jumping around with funny bow-ties or red-sneakers or 3D glasses while being "witty" or "clever" or "zany", means that when he actually gets pissed enough to say that he's going to kill the fuck out of you, he's actually intimidating and there is actually intensity in that and a whole lot of emotional weight in what he says and does.

I mean, crap, if you get Mr. Bean or John Cleese from a Monty Python skit and have them go "fear me I are the Doctorb" when, previously, all they were doing was goofing off and being silly in the previous scene, they're not going to be that impressive or emotionally charged or intimidating or gripping, are they?

It helps that the central theme of NuWho season 1 was all about the Doctor's issues and his anguish and how together with Rose, he eventually resolves them and becomes a better person (while he himself makes all those around him better).

Whereas "the Doctor is awesome, because he says he's awesome! wwoooooaaaaaah!" and "look at the Doctor goof around, haha, that is so funny!" and "look at those Dalevrosilerassilonilekamavrosters steal the crucibloids of doom! oh no! mwaha!" don't have anywhere near the emotional impact and thus characterization is shit.

[CaptainChewbacca]

Exactly. The Doctor's 'No weapons, No plan' speech at Stonehenge was 100% overproduced meh, but when in Dalek he starts telling the rich villain guy exactly what the alien in his basement is going to do, you get WORRIED.