Why didn`t Christopher Eccleston return

[berry]

I realize this question had to have been answered before, but since I'm new to the board and a year behind in the US, I would like to find out why Christopher Eccleston didn't come back as The Doctor for a 2nd season. I thought he was just about perfect, and I wonder if the replacement will be as good. Thanks.

[Dominic Smith]

To be honest there doesn't appear to be a single reason for Christopher's departure, although there are two main speculations.
Firstly, many believe that Eccleston was afraid of being typecast in the role, as other actors had been before him. He feared that after Doctor Who, a big role in television that is so well known, he would find it hard to get other work.
Secondly, it is said that the rather long shooting schedule was making Chris ill, he was not used to such a long period of intense work and he took a blow from it. If he had continued for a second series his condition may well have got worse.
Yet these explanations are not set in stone, and to be honest are merely rumors in themselves. There may be more substantial evidence out there to suggest why Chris decided to leave the show but at the moment it's not all that clear.

[The Thinker]

We at the moment don't know exactly why Eccleston left, but his successor David Tennant will be around a lot longer.

[berry]

dominicsmith said:

Firstly, many believe that Eccleston was afraid of being typecast in the role, as other actors had been before him. He feared that after Doctor Who, a big role in television that is so well known, he would find it hard to get other work.
Secondly, it is said that the rather long shooting schedule was making Chris ill, he was not used to such a long period of intense work and he took a blow from it. If he had continued for a second series his condition may well have got worse.

Thank you for the response. I tried to do my own homework via internet searches and didn't find much. I would guess of those two rumors it might be the first. IMO, the second one doesn't make a lot of sense because the "hard work" was only 13 1-hour episodes. In the US, a season, at least the major network ones, are more like about 22 1-hour episodes. Having said that, I will say that CE and BP basically acted for the entire show except for guest stars. After all, Grey's Anatomy has a regular cast of about 12 people, Lost about the same number, etc. Thus, they earn their pay on Doctor Who due to the lack of supporting cast. Guess they relished the "Dalek" episodes, because at least they didn't have as many lines to deliver. ;D

However, even the first one is a little strange because surely CE would have thought about "typecasting" before he took the part. Now, unfortunately, he doesn't look very good for doing only 13 episodes and walking away. I doubt I will like the new guy as much as CE because he brought a great combination of deadly earnest with quips (give credit to the writer for the content, but he delivered the lines so well). I would rate his performance a solid A and give Billie Piper more like a C. Some of her low score may be geographically biased because of all the actors on the show, I have the most trouble understanding her speech. To me, she has a very hard British accent...I have actually had to turn on closed captions on certain lines to know what she said. I don't have that problem with The Doctor, her mother, or her old boyfriend.

Lastly, on a side note, you and others had me going for a while. I kept seeing "second series" and everytime that was posted I was thinking you and others were referring to another completely different show. In the US, I have never heard a year referred to as such...over here, it would have been "second season". In fact, to say someone is going "to do a second series" means literally that the person is either leaving the show to work on another different show or that he/she will be double duty and act on 2 shows at the same time. That is an interesting difference in terms between the US and Great Britain.

Thanks again for your response.

[kimothy]

There are further rumours of a personal rift between RTD and CE, but I must emphasise this is a RUMOUR.

[The Thinker]

Well, on the up-side at least he was still popular when he left but to get the definitive ansewer to this question, one of us must ask the man himself.

[horg]

Christopher was afraid of bein typecast and i think he has the same character in every film anyway. He brought doctor who back and I think he and Billie Piper or even before billie piper should do some big finish audios because i haven't seen him in much recently

[Mark Senior]

This is probably covered elsewhere on this forum but...do Big Finish have any rights (or even the possibility of obtaining them) to the Ninth Doctor and/or New Series concepts?

[The Thinker]

sidrat said:

This is probably covered elsewhere on this forum but...do Big Finish have any rights (or even the possibility of obtaining them) to the Ninth Doctor and/or New Series concepts?

Not yet, don't know.



A short answer, but to the point, wouldn't you say?

[Nytik]

Christopher DID believe he had made 2 seasons, as at one of his first interviews he explained that he believed them to be 6 and 7 episode seasons.

But now that I think of it, he must have known he wouldn't film further seasons, although he commented that he was unsure whether he would continue to a series 3 (in his eyes) but he must have been lying! *Enter dramatic music*

[The Thinker]

ace1wizard said:

Christopher DID believe he had made 2 seasons, as at one of his first interviews he explained that he believed them to be 6 and 7 episode seasons.

But now that I think of it, he must have known he wouldn't film further seasons, although he commented that he was unsure whether he would continue to a series 3 (in his eyes) but he must have been lying! *Enter dramatic music*

Do you happen to have a link to a transcript of this interview? Somehow I don't think that quite rings true to me.

[Nytik]

Right, I'll try to find it, although I'm fairly sure it was on TV rather than the internet I'll do a search for you. If I can't find it, just regard it as I'm lying

[doctornk9]

typecasting was one reason he gave but on a bbc interview he also said that 13, 45min episodes was almost like 2/3 seasons of the old doctor who format

[The Thinker]

doctornk9 said:

typecasting was one reason he gave but on a bbc interview he also said that 13, 45min episodes was almost like 2/3 seasons of the old doctor who format

Actually, 13 45minute episodes is actually quite close to 26 25minute episodes, an arrangement used from 1972-1985 (the 1970 and 1971 seasons had 25 25minute episodes), with a few shorter seasons and one longer one in between. Meanwhile, during the '60s, a season took nearly a whole year. Shorter seasons didn't come in until 1986, and they carried on until 1986. So:

13, 45min episodes was almost like 2/3 seasons of the old doctor who format

That statement there is actually quite inaccurate really, as the old format is actually quite varied, but most of the time was actually the same length or longer than 13 45minute episodes really.

[Nytik]

Hey, I found the interview where he said he did 2 series.
Not on the internet though.
On the 1st Doctor DVD Boxset, Disc One, Special Features. Can't remember what the interview was called though.
Happy Watching!