Eccleston comments on 50th anniversary special return

[Samurai8472]

“Would I like to be involved? If I told you that, I’d have to shoot you”

Read that however you want.


There's been so many interviews in the past where he's made mention of not enjoying certain elements of his Doctor Who tenure.

He seems to have done it for the kids but grownups were less fun to be around

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2010/06/...ft-doctor-who/

"I was open-minded but I decided after my experience on the first series that I didn't want to do any more," he said.
"I didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in," he continues. "I thought if I stay in this job, I'm going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong."

[Sindatur]

“Would I like to be involved? If I told you that, I’d have to shoot you”

Heh, yea that could be taken to mean:
I'm going to be in it, but, I am under strict secrecy orders and not allowed to say a thing

or

Hell no, I don't want to be involved, but, I don't want to trash show, as that would be unprofessional and possibly career damaging

or

How many freakin' times do I need to tell you people I have no interest in revisiting Doctor Who (or for that matter any of my previous roles, I don't liketo repeat my work, and I'm sick of repeating this statement)

or about 100,000 other things

We can hope it's closest to the first one, though

[Romulan_spy]

His answer to me suggests that he has no interest in Doctor Who whatsoever. Most actors will usually give gushing praise of a show they were on even if the praise is not sincere. Eccleston is completely apathetic, basically has a "I don't care" response to every question. I don't think he likes Doctor Who at all.

[OmahaStar]

Romulan_spy wrote:

---

His answer to me suggests that he has no interest in Doctor Who whatsoever. Most actors will usually give gushing praise of a show they were on even if the praise is not sincere. Eccleston is completely apathetic, basically has a "I don't care" response to every question. I don't think he likes Doctor Who at all.

And that is absolutely his right. He has a perspective on the series that no one here will ever have - he was the lead in the Doctor Who series. We can speculate (and often do), but we'll never know what it is truly like to be in that situation, with the enormous pressure of resurrecting a long-dead, yet still beloved, series.

The closest we can ever come is reading the emails between Russell Davies and Ben Cook. Granted, everything in that book was well after Eccleston had left the series and it was a ratings hit. Had any of Eccleston's episodes even aired before he was already out of the role?

[Allyn Gibson]

Samurai8472 wrote:

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“Would I like to be involved? If I told you that, I’d have to shoot you”

Read that however you want.

The impression I had was that Eccleston was humoring the interviewer and telling him, without saying so directly, to move on to another subject. Which the interviewer, not picking up on the hint, didn't do.

[tomalak301]

Based on that interview, he's not involved, considering the follow up question was pretty much answered in a way that he's moved on and doesn't want to even think about the Doctor anymore. That's fine, if a bit unfortunate. I just always wonder what could have been had he stuck around for a second season.

Of course if he is involved I would be happy, but it just doesn't sound like he is.

[Klaus]

OmahaStar wrote:

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Had any of Eccleston's episodes even aired before he was already out of the role?

Nope, Tennant was named before Eccleston's series had aired.

Too bad, I'd love to see him even in a one-off anniversary special... and there's no lost episode like "Shada" to fill in with as they did for Baker in The Five Doctors"...

[DarkHorizon]

^I'm pretty sure it was in the week after "Rose" aired.

EDIT: Yep, the announcement that he was leaving was on the Thursday after "Rose" aired; Tennant was revealed about a fortnight later.

[st.barthgirl]

Honestly? He's such an ingrate that at this point i'd be VERY disappointed if someone would PAY him to be involved... Perhaps someday, if he gains a new perspective and embraces his fellow cast & crew, and the fans- but why hope to see a Guy who's basically dissed the Whole Whoniverse?

i know he is a Fine actor- but i do believe his career owes a good deal to the exposure he received... and who wants to hear that someone they traveled with basically hated the whole journey?

i hope he's Bigger on the Inside than his 'rattitude' on the Outside.

O, hey, and thanks for letting me jump right in- i'm new here

i do still watch him and enjoy his performances in other things...

[Iamnotspock]

st.barthgirl wrote:

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Honestly? He's such an ingrate that at this point i'd be VERY disappointed if someone would PAY him to be involved... Perhaps someday, if he gains a new perspective and embraces his fellow cast & crew, and the fans- but why hope to see a Guy who's basically dissed the Whole Whoniverse?

I'm afraid this is ridiculously inaccurate. He's done absolutely no such thing.

He has said, as is quoted above; "I was open-minded but I decided after my experience on the first series that I didn't want to do any more," he said.

"I didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in," he continues. "I thought if I stay in this job, I'm going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong."

He had problems with behind-the-scenes politics.

[diankra]

Let's face it, that was probably just a witty - if unoriginal - way to get out of a question he's asked again and again and AGAIN.
But if we're lucky, he has got some shooting dates to hide. Fingers crossed.

[Psion]

Romulan_spy wrote:

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His answer to me suggests that he has no interest in Doctor Who whatsoever. Most actors will usually give gushing praise of a show they were on even if the praise is not sincere. Eccleston is completely apathetic, basically has a "I don't care" response to every question. I don't think he likes Doctor Who at all.

Yep, that's the way I interpreted his answers as well. He was very polite and professional and gave answers insightful of his position as an actor. But the content of his Who-related answers leaves me with the impression that something has badly soured him on Doctor Who as a concept. I'm slowly falling into the camp that we shall never see him reprise the role ... and that's disappointing.

[st.barthgirl]

i know i'm in the minority with this... and being new to the forum, i should probably have been a good deal gentler. i'm terrible at Politics, unlike CE, So i'll say : i handled that badly, issue an apology, and drop it...

[diankra]

st.barthgirl wrote:

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i know i'm in the minority with this... and being new to the forum, i should probably have been a good deal gentler. i'm terrible at Politics, unlike CE, So i'll say : i handled that badly, issue an apology, and drop it...

No need to apologise at all. And on the wider issue, Eccleston just seems to prefer to talk about what he's doing now, not what he used to do. Irritating for us if we like what he used to do, but if that's what let's him be a good actor, who are we to grumble?

[Saul]

Yes or no chris would have to shoot him.

I don't think he is ungrateful to not want to take part. He was a fine actor before and after being the Doctor. I HOPE he does come back though.