Christopher Eccleston Returns to TV Drama In Fortitude

James Lomond is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

After refusing to take part in the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary and opting for high-camp space opera (and a bigger budget) in Thor 2, Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston is returning to the small screen playing a British scientist. As if he hadn’t taunted us enough…

Fortitude is a new crime drama set in the colder (!) parts of Iceland where a murder threatens to destabilise a previously peaceful community within the Arctic Circle. Produced by Tiger Aspect and Fifty Fathoms for Sky Atlantic and Pivot, it’s spread across twelve hour-long episodes premiering on 29th January and has been described as “Sky’s most ambitious drama to date.”

Also starring more top British talent with Michael Gambon (A Christmas Carol, 2010), Richard Dormer (Game of Thrones), the show is another of the new Nordic Noir genre, and features Danish star Sofie Gråbøl, known for her role in The Killing.

The Gloucestershire Herald caught up with Eccleston about the new show. Having enthused about playing a baddy with “motivation” in Thor 2 and shot both that and Fortitude on location in Iceland, it sounds like he had a better time on his second trip:

“I did Thor 2, whatever it was called… Dark Underpants or something, but I had a much better time on Fortitude… I much preferred the locations that we shot in, I had a much better script and I wasn’t in prosthetic make-up for eight hours every day. And I wasn’t a naughty elf. I was a naughty elf in the bar on Fortitude, but I wasn’t a naughty elf [on set].”

Aww. He goes on to enthuse more about the bar (and in fairness there is good beer to be had in Iceland). Immediately after the shoot he flew to Manhattan to film grim sci-fi, The Leftovers and was surprised at the American enthusiasm for ITV’s Downton Abbey. Ever the ray of sunshine, when asked whether he’d like a guest role on the British period drama he replied, “I think you’ve got to leave yourself open to everything, when you’ve got a mortgage…”

He is however very keen to return to Iceland for more Fortitude should he be asked back for further series. Interestingly one of the directors involved on the shoot is Nick Hurran who directed several Doctor Who episodes including 50th Anniversary special The Day of the Doctor which Moffat was keen for Eccleston to take part in. It seems top talent moves in similar circles!

Fortitude promises to be something pretty special – check out Eccleston, Gambon and others in the trailer below.

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