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Just
as The Doctor has done so many
times down the years,
Christopher Eccleston embarked
on a journey into the unknown
when he heard a new series of
the Time Lord’s adventures was
being planned.
First,
he emailed co-executive producer
and lead writer Russell T Davies
to let him know he was
interested in playing the Time
Lord’s ninth incarnation.
Approaching his forties at the
time, as one of the most
acclaimed actors of his
generation, Christopher accepts
that saying "yes" to
reviving The Doctor was a bold
move.
"If
you wanted to be cynical about
it, a lot of the work I’ve
done has been comfort food for
liberals," he says with a
smile, referring to benchmark TV
dramas such as Our Friends In
The North and Hillsborough.
"What’s dawned on me
about Doctor Who is that I’m
trying to entertain a different
audience. It’s exciting and
funny and scary and it’s aimed
at families, so I’m kind of
acting for children and I feel
very lucky to be able to do
that. "For all the danger
The Doctor encounters, the basic
message of the show is seize
life, be optimistic and see the
positives. "The series is
written with passion and humour,
and there’s an innocence about
it. It’s a kind of celebration
of life in all its forms.
"In everything The Doctor
does, he’s saying, ‘it’s
great to be alive’. I can hear
people sneering at that, but
that’s what he believes and it’s
a nice thing to say to kids, or
anybody for that
matter."
Fittingly,
for a classic TV series being
reinvented for the 21st century,
Christopher had no
preconceptions about Doctor Who,
having rarely watched it as a
child. "I’ve got some
memories of it, but I was always
out playing," he says.
"So I didn’t have to
think about what had gone
before. "I’ve just always
tried to do the very best
television I possibly could, and
I knew that, having worked with
Russell before, this series had
a good chance of being great
television."
When
Christopher signed up to play
The Doctor, Russell had already
written the first two scripts,
giving his leading man a
character template to work on.
"He is Russell’s Doctor
and I’ve responded to the
character that he’s
written," says Christopher.
"But I have a sense that,
as we went along, Russell
started to look at what I was
doing and began to write for me.
I think I’ve done certain
things with the character which
he’s liked, and he’s used
that."
Gone
is the sartorial flamboyance of
the previous Doctors, as is the
slight air of theatricality
which seemed to suit their
outfits, and in their place is a
more pareddown, more
"alien" adventurer –
with a Northern accent.
"The accent is an
interesting thing," says
Manchester-born Christopher,
whose movie credits include
Shallow Grave, Elizabeth and 28
Days Later. "The Doctor is
a scientist and an intellectual,
and a lot of people seem to
think you can only be those
things if you speak with
received pronunciation which, of
course, is rubbish. "In
terms of what he wears –
mostly black but with a
succession of coloured tops –
I didn’t want the costume to
be my performance, I wanted any
flamboyance and colour to come
out of my acting.
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"He
kind of eats life. He’s not on a mission, he hasn’t got an agenda, he’s
just there. Things just happen, he responds to them and does what he thinks
is right." Teaming up with Rose (Billie Piper) brings him into contact
with her family, teasing out another element of The Doctor’s personality.
"He doesn’t do ‘domestic’," Christopher smiles."There’s
a line about it in one episode. He doesn’t really like domestic set-ups or
being answerable to other people. The ninth Doctor seems to have a
problem with commitment!"
However,
the bottom line for Christopher is that The Doctor is someone who lives
people.The ninth Doctor seems to have a problem with commitment!" But
for all his insights into the new Doctor’s personality, the man playing
him admits he’s still trying to work a lot of it out himself. "I find
it quite hard to talk about the series because it’s such a massive project
and we’re working so hard on it that I’ve not had a moment to collect my
thoughts," says Christopher.
"To
be honest with you, I’ve actually found myself behaving like The Doctor
– I walk into a scene, the scene unfolds, I react to it, they film it and
I move on. "I’m not talking about ‘immersing’ myself in it, or
any ‘method’ stuff – it’s just such a fast-paced show and production
that you have to get on with it! "Everything you need to know about
Doctor Who is all there on the screen. More than anything else I’ve worked
on, this show does exactly what it says on the tin." Christopher
adds:"When I agreed to playing The Doctor, I was reacting with my heart
to what I feel Russell has tried to do with all his work, which is deliver
television that is entertaining and has substance. "If we’ve got it
right, I think Doctor Who will be both of those things."
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