Eccleston talking about his time on Doctor Who

dave_windowsdave_windows Posts: 5,937
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Christopher Eccleston has been talking about his time on Doctor Who in a rare interview on BBC Radio 4.

Eccleston was appearing on the Saturday evening discussion programme Loose Ends, primarily to promote his role in Safe House, a four-part drama on ITV from 20 April.

Eccleston was interviewed by Emma Freud in a wide ranging talk about his career. When asked about Doctor Who, he told Freud how he had put himself forward for the role.

I approached Russell T Davies and said I know you are going to do this and I think you should think about me.... I wanted to do something for children, I wanted to learn a lighter way of being.

Freud asked him if he felt he had succeeded.

I think I over pitched the comedy. If I had my time again I would do the comedy very differently. But I think, where I possibly succeeded was in the tortured stuff.

So why did he leave?

What's interesting in this country is that wherever a story like this emerges they concentrate on the negative. I dont think it's important why I left, I think it's important that I did it in the first place.

Freud pushed the point saying it was a big shock to fans when he left, and he had been so successful in the role he could still be playing it now.

Well I'm still there in spirit....... Myself and three individuals at the very top of the pyramid clashed, so off I went. But they are are not here to say their side of it, so I'm not going to go into details.

The full programme can be heard worldwide on the BBC iPlayer for the next four weeks.

So in otherwords he clashed with Barrowman which everyone knows about, Piper & Noel.

Comments

  • Sora2311Sora2311 Posts: 2,306
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    Top of the pyramid I think means the production team. I'm hoping all this recent change of heart stuff paves the way for him coming back for the 60th.
  • Dalekbuster523Dalekbuster523 Posts: 4,596
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    Think it seems more likely it would have been Russell T Davies or a director Christopher Eccleston fell out with than John Barrowman. Does John Barrowman really seem like someone you could not get along with from the various interviews and TV appearances he does?
  • dorkjacksndorkjacksn Posts: 598
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    Think it seems more likely it would have been Russell T Davies or a director Christopher Eccleston fell out with than John Barrowman. Does John Barrowman really seem like someone you could not get along with from the various interviews and TV appearances he does?

    Not necessarily. He is a very big, wacky, larger than life guy by all reports, and someone who took his work as seriously and professionally as Eccleston might have considered him too frivolous, or a distraction.

    I personally love Barrowman but having had to put up with supposedly 'beloved' kids back at school who did nothing but prat around, make jokes and distract from work at hand I'd be able to sympathise if that was the case...
  • AbominationAbomination Posts: 6,483
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    I think there may have been a slight problem with John Barrowman from what I've heard in the past, but I feel unrelated to this. I don't think it was a big deal if there ever was.

    At any rate, he's again shown to be devoted and gracious to the show, and though Capaldi has come close so far, Eccleston is still my favourite Doctor. He's very right in that when asked about it, people tend to steer towards the negative. I'd love to hear more of the positive some day - his time with Billie, Camille and some of the guest stars of Series 1. As much as he's distanced himself and had definite problems with the production, I nonetheless always hope he enjoyed making the series as much as I enjoy watching it. There's a passion in Series 1 that has yet to be beaten, and a series finale that has not been bested. :)
  • Dalekbuster523Dalekbuster523 Posts: 4,596
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    dorkjacksn wrote: »
    Not necessarily. He is a very big, wacky, larger than life guy by all reports, and someone who took his work as seriously and professionally as Eccleston might have considered him too frivolous, or a distraction.

    I personally love Barrowman but having had to put up with supposedly 'beloved' kids back at school who did nothing but prat around, make jokes and distract from work at hand I'd be able to sympathise if that was the case...

    I wouldn't. Why can't everybody just get along? I've never seen anything on TV that's made John Barrowman seem in any way unlikeable or annoying. I mean, you don't know what goes on behind the scenes but judging from his TV appearances, I don't think him being 'larger than life' would be a good excuse to fall out with someone.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 40
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    Barrowman can be annoying, I guess CE's issues were more with production crew though.

    I suspect we'll never know the three, until perhaps CE releases an autobiography and this "USP reveal" would stir interest !
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,772
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    Wasn't Keith Boak supposed to be one of them?
  • Sufyaan_KaziSufyaan_Kazi Posts: 3,862
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    I love Ecclestons' line about concentrating on the positives. He was great in the role, nuff said - need there be still a reason to focus on the discussion about why he left? It happened, we've moved on and so has he.

    I also respect that he says he doesn't want to go into the details because THEY aren't hear to defend themselves, that sounds pretty honourable to me. :p
  • donovan5donovan5 Posts: 1,023
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    Barrowman can be annoying, I guess CE's issues were more with production crew though.

    I suspect we'll never know the three, until perhaps CE releases an autobiography and this "USP reveal" would stir interest !

    Yeah makes much more sense,Chris was the star if there had been a big problem with a sometime companion that companion would be gone.
    It all worked out for the best though Tennant came along and was brilliant in the role,it's a shame Chris couldn't do the 50th but it seems now that that was more to do with certain people not getting their backsides in gear and making it happen rather than any lingering ill will from CE
  • Lady of TrakenLady of Traken Posts: 1,314
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    Think it seems more likely it would have been Russell T Davies or a director Christopher Eccleston fell out with than John Barrowman. Does John Barrowman really seem like someone you could not get along with from the various interviews and TV appearances he does?

    Agree with you Dalekbuster I heard the interview and "Myself and three individuals at the very top of the pyramid clashed" suggests executives, producers. directors.
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    If it was an individual actor i.e. such as John Barrowman Chris would have phrased it differently I think. He doesn't seem a snob about working with other actors just commented disliking how acting schools seem to produce a particular type/ class of actor when there should be a greater variety allowed to be heard
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 615
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    Why was he atop a pyramid to begin with?!

    Sorry.
  • saladfingers81saladfingers81 Posts: 11,301
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    Why was he atop a pyramid to begin with?!

    Sorry.

    Marrying his best friends daughter knowing our Doctor.
  • Granny McSmithGranny McSmith Posts: 19,622
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    I wouldn't. Why can't everybody just get along? I've never seen anything on TV that's made John Barrowman seem in any way unlikeable or annoying. I mean, you don't know what goes on behind the scenes but judging from his TV appearances, I don't think him being 'larger than life' would be a good excuse to fall out with someone.

    I find Barrowman seriously annoying, and have nothing but sympathy for Chris having to put up with him. Not everyone is the same, you know.

    (I love Captain Jack, btw).
  • human naturehuman nature Posts: 13,180
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    I heard the interview and "Myself and three individuals at the very top of the pyramid clashed" suggests executives, producers. directors.
    Surely the "three individuals at the very top of the pyramid" has to mean the three people in charge - the executive producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Mal Young.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 615
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    Surely the "three individuals at the very top of the pyramid" has to mean the three people in charge - the executive producers Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner and Mal Young.

    Who knows? I'm not sure why it even matters, frankly. It's all just speculation, and sometimes people clash. *shrug*
  • Dalekbuster523Dalekbuster523 Posts: 4,596
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    Why was he atop a pyramid to begin with?!

    Sorry.

    It's part of Phase 2 of my fanfic shared universe. A crossover with Night of the Museum. :p
  • tszujmetszujme Posts: 1,221
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    So in otherwords he clashed with Barrowman which everyone knows about, Piper & Noel.

    Supporting actors are not "at the very top of the pyramid." He and BP were good friends, and he and Noel Clarke seem to still be on perfectly good terms per NC's Twitter. CE and RTD have been seen together socially a few times in recent years so it's probably not him.

    I'd put my money on BBC execs, and maybe Boak.
  • IWasBoredIWasBored Posts: 3,418
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    How about Mal Young, Phil Collinson and Jane Tranters?
  • dave_windowsdave_windows Posts: 5,937
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    I wouldn't. Why can't everybody just get along? I've never seen anything on TV that's made John Barrowman seem in any way unlikeable or annoying. I mean, you don't know what goes on behind the scenes but judging from his TV appearances, I don't think him being 'larger than life' would be a good excuse to fall out with someone.

    Well didnt Barrowman & Tennant joke on set about who had the bigger nob and Bilie called David Ten Inch or something so they were kinda like school boy humour and guess Ecclestone being serious didnt like this kind of stuff. Id imagine Barrowman liked to fool about on set with Piper which Chris probably hated.
  • Dalekbuster523Dalekbuster523 Posts: 4,596
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    Well didnt Barrowman & Tennant joke on set about who had the bigger nob and Bilie called David Ten Inch or something so they were kinda like school boy humour and guess Ecclestone being serious didnt like this kind of stuff. Id imagine Barrowman liked to fool about on set with Piper which Chris probably hated.

    In which case, that would be the director's fault not John Barrowman's for not keeping order.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 615
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    In which case, that would be the director's fault not John Barrowman's for not keeping order.

    No. If this was the case, John should've respected Chris and calmed down a bit. (But then again, you're the guy who says it was the BBC producer's fault that he got punched by Jeremy Clarkson, so...)

    We don't even know what happened though, so it's all pure speculation anyway.
  • Dalekbuster523Dalekbuster523 Posts: 4,596
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    No. If this was the case, John should've respected Chris and calmed down a bit. (But then again, you're the guy who says it was the BBC producer's fault that he got punched by Jeremy Clarkson, so...)

    We don't even know what happened though, so it's all pure speculation anyway.

    But in this scenario, John Barrowman probably didn't think he was doing anything wrong.
  • Granny McSmithGranny McSmith Posts: 19,622
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    But in this scenario, John Barrowman probably didn't think he was doing anything wrong.

    No, he obviously didn't. Which is what makes him annoying.
  • IWasBoredIWasBored Posts: 3,418
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    Why does everyone pressume that Chrissy is so serious? This is not the impression that I get from some of his interviews or the what Billie said about him. Doesn't serious mean that someone is uptight, devoid of humour and can't crack jokes? Do you guys know him?
  • CLL DodgeCLL Dodge Posts: 115,630
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    IWasBored wrote: »
    How about Mal Young, Phil Collinson and Jane Tranters?

    One of more of those names will be in the picture.
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