Did Christopher Eccleston Hang-up When Asked About Doctor Who?

Barry Rice 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.

Former Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston has been making the promotional rounds this week to talk about his new series Fortitude (premiering tonight at 9pm on Sky Atlantic), and one reporter from The Mirror was brave enough to ask about Doctor Who.

For most of the interview, conversation actually centered around the current state of the British film industry, and the perception of a class bias.

“In my experience, about 33 years in the industry, there has always been a class system,” says Eccleston. “Although there is nepotism in every single industry, I would say nepotism in the entertainment industry is much more insidious.

“It’s a society problem, really, in that we have always given precedence to people with an RP accent and those from public schools. That’s always been the way this country has developed and the entertainment industry, particularly at this moment in time, is built to reflect that.”

Eccleston, who comes from a working-class background himself, continues:

“It is far, far, far less likely that an actor of my background would be able to break through now than when I when I broke through in the early 90s.”

Interviewer, Clemmie Moodie tries to steer the conversation into a more lighthearted arena by mentioning last year’s internet hoax claiming Eccleston had died. But Eccleston is not amused. “What? Somebody said I’d died?” he asks. “My agent never made me aware of it. No, that’s very disturbing. I’m disappointed; members of my family might have read that, that’s really unpleasant.”

Finally, after having been warned three times by Eccleston’s publicist not to mention Doctor Who, the intrepid reporter asks Eccleston if he agrees that current Doctor Peter Capaldi is doing a great job. Eccleston is having none of it.

After a few moments of silence, and the reporter then asking if Christopher is still there, a female voice replies: “Christopher has hung up.”

As the interviewer mentions, Eccleston has made no secret of his disinterest in discussing Doctor Who. In another interview four years ago, the actor made some rare comments on the subject:

“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 s***.”

The specific behind-the-scenes turmoil and “politics” that led to Eccleston’s exit from the TARDIS have never been publicly revealed.

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