think its fair to say that he is the Doctor...after all he says he is....but its just an incarnation you don't like....just like some don't like Six, or even Ten....but they are all still Doctors....the same man.....

He's always going to be my doctor =')

He is not a moaner, he was treated bloody appallingly by the BBC and has been very restrained about anything he has said on the subject. Even RTD has acknowledged that the filming of series 1 was a nightmare, and not because of Chris E, but because of a whole range of production issues. In short: CE makes more than fair comments about issues that were experienced in a polite and diplomatic way.


You really know nothing about the man, do you? He actually hates interviews and promotional work. This is probably the only major interview he has given for years, so stop talking cr*p please.

oh and btw, the interview is a fascinating read, well worth a quid or so of anyones money.

I agree. Chris Eccleston is a good actor but I think it was the only time that the role of the Doctor has been badly miscast. I always found watching him uncomfortable almost as if I could detect that he himself was uncomfortable in the role (which apparently he was).

Everyone plays the doctor differently, i dont think anyone could say he was miscast. He certainly wasn't a stereotypical "doctor" though in the way Matt is (ecentric, schoolboy type) and he didn't fall as naturally into the role as Tennant did. I think overall Tennant has easily been the best "new" Doctor in terms of making the show a commercial success (licensing, viewing figures, merchandise, international sales) .. but i can understand why a lot of "old skoolers" prefer Matt as its obvious hes playing it more like that.

I disagree. He played the part with gravitas, as a survivor of the Time War. I didn't get one hint that he was uncomfortable in the role, and I thought he brought authority to the role of the Doctor with a hint of manic energy. He's definitely the most 'different' to the other Doctors but he's the only one to have just committed two acts of genocide. He's allowed to be different.

Me neither and if it wasn't for DT I would never have watched DW again.


I think we're related in some way, as I could have written this post!

True...he had a lot to carry on his shoulders....

Personllay I have felt that he always put on a hard extertior to not show his vulnurable and fun side....even when he is joking or laughing earlier in the series, he doesn't allow that full excitment to come out of him....but then bang...Doctor Dances, and Everyone lives....that was the moment is Doctor was truly happy.....it was almost like a redemption for him, something that just lifted a huge guilt off his shoulder...

My long lost second cousin twice removed!

To add to my previous post, I will say that after "Rose", I thought there were a few poorly written episodes anyway (slitheen), but I thought some of the stories in DT's tenure were bad (Last of the TIme Lords) and it didn't make me stop watching.

Hello

Terry Pratchet mentioned Doctor Who just before that appalling Sky One thing came out.

Going Postal, I believe.

And yes, titillated with just enough negativity to get some copy.

Chris does the same, just before his Lennon thing comes out.

I remember Chris acting in Gone In 60 Seconds, as a carpenter, orbeit, a psychopath that likes the wood.

Point is- either the production team were having a little joke at his expense,

Or they thought the wood would make him seem less wooden.

Yes because that is why they have things like that then.....what did the roles of both Angelina and Cage represent then??? What kind of in-joke was that?

Point is that when you are associated with Doctor Who, no matter what you do in the future, and interviewer will always ask you about Doctor Who...take RTD, when he was confirming the news of the fact that torchwood was coming back.....the biggest question the Journo had was what does he think about Doctor Who....and I bet you this whole world that when David's drama Single Father airs, the journos will ask him what is life like without Doctor Who, and so and so on...

Comparing Terry Prachet to an actor who will forever be associated with the show doesn't make sense...

Go on http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/s4/characters/doctor9 then videos; 'New Era'. It's press conference with CE just before the series re-started. Now that he's left it's quite interesting, you can tell why he left by his comments, due to my bad memory I can't remember quite what he said but it was something like Doctor Who took over 8 months of his life which he found difficult.

I'm glad he was able to give his own, limited side of why he left. I never had a problem with Ecclestone himself, seen him in a few other things like Heroes, and he was good. I just never really felt comfortable with his Doctor, though he played it well.

Just thought he came across as too bossy and occasionally unlikeable at times and his costume wasn't really how a Doctor's costume should be. It was too normal. In his funnier moments he was good though, like the banana's thing.

I totally agree with this - I loved Chris's Doctor. I totally believed he was the last of his kind and felt the weight and grief of that. I loved the way his character slowly dealt with his grief and moved forward with the help of his relationship with Rose, totally believable. I certainly never got the sense that he was uncomfortable or that he wasn't the Doctor. For me, he is 100% nine.

The article does not mention anywhere that he felt uncomfortable, he speaks of the role as something he is very proud of. He left it because he was unhappy with certain issues; these are not clear, but it is clear that it is not to do with him being the Doctor.

Hello


Perhaps they lacked a Mr Sheen shine?


Sure, you're asked about it but only a negative will get you the chance to disseminate your product, far and wide.

This thread proves it.


Because it suggests a pattern, where people use the Doctor Who franchise to up their profile and get the requisite promotion for their product.

CE is MY Doctor though, and pretty much my fave one, it was the fact that he was serious, damaged, etc, which made sense as he's just killed his entire race along with the Daleks (or so we thought to!), if Doctor Who came back with some mad cap Doctor bouncing around like Sylvester McCoy, then it would of never been taken seriously. CE was the right man for that, introduce us to the serious side before showing us the magic and why he's like that.

okay




No this thread doesn't prove anything, because plenty of threads have bee started by the fact "why did Chris leave after one sries" and all of them have people going on about the so called rumours....

And he was being honest, just like he was in the radio interview.....and he is well known enough not have comments like this raise his "profile".....many of us were lareay looking forward to watching Lennon....and like I said as always, when a person related to the show will always be asked that question even though they weren't there to talk about it.....blame the journo not Chris...




No the only pattern it suggest is that once you are the Doctor the tole never really ever leaves you.....and that is down to the fans as much as the impact the artist had on the role.....right to the end of their lives, the likes of Pertwee and Troughton were always talked to about their role as the Doctor and their time spent on the show...just like Tom Baker does still....so its hardly suprising that an actor who in the role only five years ago will be asked....the journo is more likely to be interested in his views about Doctor Who than his new show....again blame the journo....

I can understand why they made the choices they did with the characterization, and with the off screen time war back story.

If you think about it, the time lords really had been removed from the universe, by the BBC. The doctor himself narrowly survived death by American TV, his fate unknown for a whole re-generation.

It really was a mystery who this doctor was going to be, where he had been, what would happen on his return. So his situation and demeanour was somewhat fitting.

Once the show was a success, they fell on their feet with the next actor, so possibly that was the best outcome.

In all fairness, I don't think with the best will in the world that you can say Davies or Kring were particularly consistent in maintaining their highest quality output every week of the season. Heroes and Doctor Who were both uneven. For an actor perhaps more used to mini series and film, and looking at some of the high end HBO series or even a network rival like LOST, perhaps it just wasn't where he felt the franchise could be at. Remember, there were times when the show suffered by comparison to its initial template, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In fairness, RTD was perhaps out of his comfort zone with a genre show like this. SM appears a little more literate in what sources to draw from to keep an even keel.

It may be the case the BBC was very willing to make the new show work as a Saturday night flagship, to the extent that a comparable show in the American system, along the production style and schedule they were seeking to emulate, would just get shut down and cancelled if beset by production woes. So the favouritism may have caused the cast and crew to have to gruel it out, as opposed to getting jobs elsewhere. Which paid off in the end. The interview does indicate he was proud of his work, and he identifies with the cast and crew as having been in it together. The criticism, which is not quite visible, seems to be directed at management, logistics, creative direction etc.

Possibly with a two season experience, he'd have a different outlook, and fans would have more material to influence their default instinct as to the natural tone of the new series. Or possibly staying put would have confirmed his reticence about the series. Who knows. But his concerns, which on the face of it seem legitimate, probably owe to having been the lead in what was at times a troubled production, and which without the history of the character, might not have fulfilled a full order of episodes. Perhaps we ought to see the remarks as being coloured by that.

I will indeed buy the RT on Friday, so thanks for the recommendation!

How was he treated badly by the BBC? Genuine question, I didn't know he was.

I don't know if anyone remembers this post I did in January

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...6&postcount=28

Oh, and I know - it's meant to say 'last spring'...

I'm not sure you make a fair comparison there at all....considering the result of both shows! One kept failing and failing untill it stopped...and had the axe on it...and another one went from success to success to success...well you get the pattern. Their is a whole lot of difference in the way RTD and Kring made the shows they made....one made a success one made failure after some success, because he decided to listen to fans.....rather than then giving the main audience the entertianmemnt he gave them....

As for how uneven RTD's era is...well there is only the so called fandom that has a minority loud voice about it not being good....overall the majority have loved it....the AI are the biggest signs of that...and the majority are loving Moff's Who as well...and actually Moff is in the same position that RTD was in series 1, he wasn't anymore experienced on leading a grand show like Doctor Who....he only produced three others...while RTD produced 5 others...so i don't know how Moff will be more aware of the responsibilities than RTD....the new team have also been going through their own teething problems...and just like series 1, they are still pulling of a success with the major audience...


Heroes is a goner....


And so am I now...I'm hungry!!!

Hello

It comes down to whether you believe some actors will attack a populist program, in order to raise their profile and get the right people talking.

That comedians haven't attacked BGT in order to get the right people talking about their alternative product.

Or, actors haven't attacked the most popular programs on television, so the right kind of people will be interested in their product.

If you believe it goes on.

How can you be so sure that Chris hasn't cynically used the same promotional technique?

And, not to preempt you but, if you don't know him- you can't give a definitive answer.

Hello

Thanks for that support.

I'm really sorry to read he had a crap time of it. It certainly sounds a demanding part to play...live, even. Regardless, he was a ('scuse) fantastic Doctor. My little girl cried absolute buckets when he regenerated into Tennant, we all did.

Sad that some people are laying the blame at RTD's feet, when the guy was the main reason he wanted to do Who in the first place. I suspect he just didn't like the demands of the role for such long periods of time. Many actors and directors walk away from jobs that impinge on their lives too much, and I agree with this. It's not too bad for Matt; he's young and has years ahead yet. And David really was just starting out and developing his career, how could he say no? But Chris had not only a strong reputation, but also a family and frankly, I couldn't imagine 9 months away from mine either.

Chris, Number 9, I salute you. Always Fantastic.