Eccleston comments on 50th anniversary special return

[DalekJim]

Elfin Mischievous Humbug wrote:

---

Not only that, but he did Doctor Who in the first place because of Russell T. Davies.

He hasn't even breathed RTD's name at all since the press junket for Series 1.

Not only that but Keith Boak was never asked back after his block of episodes. Why would Eccleston still quit?

[VDCNI]

DalekJim wrote:

---

The issue went up to the producers, hence his quote about people "schmoozing at cocktail parties" while people on set were treated poorly.

Eccleston has repeatedly said that The Empty Child 2-parter was the best script he was given though so maybe he'd be up for returning if Moffat was behind it. Doubtful but weirder things have happened.

The cocktail parties line was in reference to the difference between acting for adults and children - it's not clearly a reference to the conditions on Who at all so you're making a big assumption there. No one else seems to have had an issue with the amount of work that Collinson or RTD did.

[Steve Mollmann]

Yeah, that quote seems to be more about his audience: children vs. television critics: "It was a great part. I loved playing him. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I’ve always acted for adults and then suddenly you’re acting for children, who are far more tasteful; they will not be bullshitted. It’s either good, or it’s bad. They don’t schmooze at after-show parties, with cocktails."

That said, even though Eccleston liked working with Davies before, I'd bet the working environment of Doctor Who was very different from The Second Coming.

[The Wormhole]

RTD does admit in The Writer's Tale that the early days of filming season one were a disorganized mess with no one really knowing what they were doing. I think it's been implied this is one of the bad experiences Eccleston had during his year thta was a factor in him choosing not to return.

[DalekJim]

Steve Mollmann wrote:

---

Yeah, that quote seems to be more about his audience: children vs. television critics: "It was a great part. I loved playing him. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I’ve always acted for adults and then suddenly you’re acting for children, who are far more tasteful; they will not be bullshitted. It’s either good, or it’s bad. They don’t schmooze at after-show parties, with cocktails."

Respectfully disagree. He wouldn't specify "after-show" if he wasn't talking about media people.

[Nagisa Furukawa]

VDCNI wrote:

---

The cocktail parties line was in reference to the difference between acting for adults and children - it's not clearly a reference to the conditions on Who at all so you're making a big assumption there. No one else seems to have had an issue with the amount of work that Collinson or RTD did.

Steve Mollmann wrote:

---

Yeah, that quote seems to be more about his audience: children vs. television critics: "It was a great part. I loved playing him. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I’ve always acted for adults and then suddenly you’re acting for children, who are far more tasteful; they will not be bullshitted. It’s either good, or it’s bad. They don’t schmooze at after-show parties, with cocktails."

That said, even though Eccleston liked working with Davies before, I'd bet the working environment of Doctor Who was very different from The Second Coming.

Sorry, but the snippet you chose was very out-of-context when the whole quote is put together. Yes, he loved working for children and yes, he loved playing the Doctor for a generation of kids, but the cocktail parties thing is NOT a general statement about working for adults (why would it?? most adults don't attend cocktail parties regularly), but a callback to him specifically complaining about the media culture of those who ran the show.

Here it is:

Christopher Eccleston wrote:

---

I left Doctor Who because I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye-to-eye with them. I didn’t agree with the way things were being run. I didn’t like the culture that had grown up around the series. So I left, I felt, over a principle. I thought to remain, which would have made me a lot of money and given me huge visibility, the price I would have had to pay was to eat a lot of shit. I’m not being funny about that. I didn’t want to do that and it comes to the art of it, in a way. I feel that if you run your career and.. we are vulnerable as actors and we are constantly humiliating ourselves auditioning. But if you allow that to go on, on a grand scale you will lose whatever it is about you and it will be present in your work. If you allow your desire to be successful and visible and financially secure – if you allow that to make you throw shades on your parents, on your upbringing, then you’re knackered. You’ve got to keep something back, for yourself, because it’ll be present in your work. My face didn’t fit and I’m sure they were glad to see the back of me. The important thing is that I succeeded. It was a great part. I loved playing him. I loved connecting with that audience. Because I’ve always acted for adults and then suddenly you’re acting for children, who are far more tasteful; they will not be bullshitted. It’s either good, or it’s bad. They don’t schmooze at after-show parties, with cocktails.

[DalekJim]

Christopher Eccleston wrote:

---

I left Doctor Who because I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye-to-eye with them. I didn’t agree with the way things were being run. I didn’t like the culture that had grown up around the series. So I left, I felt, over a principle.

Yeah, I wouldn't call Keith Boak a "senior" person at the BBC. He's obviously referring to Collinson and RTD. Boak would have had no influence on the "culture that had grown up around the series".

[Nagisa Furukawa]

DalekJim wrote:

---

He's obviously referring to Collinson and RTD.

Since she was an executive producer, I'd also assume Julie Gardner is part of the "senior people" group that he had problems with.

[VDCNI]

Nagisa Furukawa wrote:

---

Sorry, but the snippet you chose was very out-of-context when the whole quote is put together. Yes, he loved working for children and yes, he loved playing the Doctor for a generation of kids, but the cocktail parties thing is NOT a general statement about working for adults (why would it?? most adults don't attend cocktail parties regularly), but a callback to him specifically complaining about the media culture of those who ran the show.

Here it is:

It could just as easily mean media people he's dealt with in the past, as he says - he's always acted for adults in the past and had to put up with bullshit and cocktail parties.

There's no specific reference in it to anyone. None of us actually know what happened but most of us also aren't desperate to jump to conclusions.

[DalekJim]

I don't think it's jumping to conclusions at all. Eccleston says he left because he didn't get on with any of the senior people.

Davies, Collinson and Gardner were the senior people.

[Nagisa Furukawa]

VDCNI wrote:

---

There's no specific reference in it to anyone. None of us actually know what happened but most of us also aren't desperate to jump to conclusions.

No one's jumping to conclusions; we're speculating. And besides, Eccleston himself said, "I left Doctor Who because I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye-to-eye with them. I didn’t agree with the way things were being run. I didn’t like the culture that had grown up around the series." If that later cocktail comment is about generic media people and not the specific senior people of DW who he had a problem with then the quote makes absolutely no sense in the full context.

[DalekJim]

So, now that the "senior people" he had an issue with are gone it's more likely he'd come back.

Personally though, I think he'd rather just move on and not relive that part of his career.

[VDCNI]

Nagisa Furukawa wrote:

---

No one's jumping to conclusions; we're speculating. And besides, Eccleston himself said, "I left Doctor Who because I could not get along with the senior people. I left because of politics. I did not see eye-to-eye with them. I didn’t agree with the way things were being run. I didn’t like the culture that had grown up around the series." If that later cocktail comment is about generic media people and not the specific senior people of DW who he had a problem with then the quote makes absolutely no sense in the full context.

Nope it makes perfect sense.

[DalekJim]

It makes perfect sense if you ignore the context completely and fill in the gaps in the narrative with your own romanticised ideas about how the British media works.

[VDCNI]

DalekJim wrote:

---

It makes perfect sense if you ignore the context completely and fill in the gaps in the narrative with your own romanticised ideas about how the British media works.

I work in the British media thanks so I know exactly how it works thanks and yes all that stuff happens but none of the three people you're happy to smear have that reputation which is why I'm not simply going to assume Ecclestone's vague comments refer to them.