Ninth Doctor actor Christopher Eccleston reveals his brutal conditions for returning to Doctor Who. Eccleston was the first actor to portray the Doctor in its modern era following its revival in 2005. While he successfully brought the iconic Time Lord back to the screen, he abruptly departed the show after just one season, leading to David Tennant taking over the role. Of all the actors who have portrayed the Doctor in its revival era, Eccleston served the shortest stint and declined to return during its anniversary specials.
While speaking at For The Love Of Sci-Fi 2023 (via The Direct), Eccleston laid out the brutal conditions for his return to Doctor Who. He didn’t mince his words as he called for the show to fire various executives behind the show, namely returning showrunner Russell T. Davies. Only if all these major Doctor Who and BBC executives are sacked will Eccleston return to the show. Check out his statement below:
Sack Russell T Davies. Sack Jane Tranter. Sack Phil Collinson. Sack Julie Gardner. And I’ll come back. So can you arrange that?
Does anyone want him back? His run was pretty forgettable if I remember correctly.
The thing was, Eccleston’s Doctor, with his bleeding pain and anguish, set the stage for Tennant’s Doctor to take off from. Tennant would’ve been brilliant regardless, but the setup from that first season let Tennant take off almost literally running.
He did get one of my favourite lines - “Lots of planets have a north!”
I’d like him back - he could have been a great Doctor but he was poorly served by the scripts.
He is my favorite Doctor and his series is tied with series 4 (Donna) as my favorite series of Who and i will die on that hill. I know I’m just one person but from my perspective, it seems like within the Who fandom most people at least like and respect Nine, and plenty of people do in fact really love him like I do. If he ever came back to the show onscreen in any capacity it would literally be the most hyped I’ve ever been for Doctor Who ever.