Moffat talks Eccleston and The Day of the Doctor
- Thread starter Starkers
- Start date
QFT - Eccleston did the job, damn well, got the cheque, then moved on.
He can work where and when he likes, it's his career.
Keith Boak allegedly was quite rude with many people involved with production, though him and Eccleston really got into badly.
Also, if you believe the tabloids, than when Eccleston met with Moffat, he said he would only agree to Day of the Doctor if Joe Ahearne were to direct it. Ahearne was another director from the first season, one who Eccleston enjoyed working with. Moffat turned the request down as he had already selected the director he wanted, and Eccleston walked.
Personally, I think there's some exaggeration going on with the Ahearne story. Yes, Eccleston's admiration for Ahearne is well known and documented going back to season 1. And while I can believe Eccleston might request Ahearne, I doubt it was a demand that his involvement hinged upon. even if Moffat were inclined to agree, Ahearne hasn't worked on Who since season 1 and probably wouldn't due to personal reasons of his own.
^Was the Ahearne thing not a joke, where he later said he'd return for the 100th anniversary on condition Ahearne directed it? Are you sure this hasn't been conflated with his refusal to Moffat?
What I find rather sweet about the linked interview in the OP is that--even when discussing his '80's epiphany--Moffat does a little verbal dance around saying any specific about Colin Baker (not for the first time either, there was a special BBC interview for the 50th where he talked about each Doctor in turn, and all he said about the sixth was the opening shot of Trial was great!).
Good article. I thought it interesting that after Eccleston declined to return, Moffat seems not to have even considered bringing McGann back as Eight, who we'd just seen "The Night of the Doctor." I would have loved seeing him back in action alongside Smith & Tennant.
Yeah, it is odd that with Eccleston's refusal the next option was create a new past Doctor. I would have checked to see if McGann were willing first.
Of course, Moffat's story is he couldn't picture McGann as a weary warrior, but IMO McGann could have fit perfectly in the War Doctor's place. Of course, it would mean we'd lose Night of the Doctor, and as much as I loved Night, I think this would be an acceptable trade.
Beyond not being able to picture McGann as a weary warrior, honestly, I get the decision to create the War Doctor in Eccleston's place. While McGann had been referenced in one or two points in the new series (I think the Journal of Impossible Things was the first time he was explicitly shown on screen), probably one in a hundred viewers of Doctor Who (the revival, that is) was familiar with the 1996 TV movie, and from a storytelling standpoint it's easier to introduce a new character than try to get people acclimated to an existing one from an obscure story.
Don't get me wrong, The Night of the Doctor was an amazing treat and I adore it and I loved seeing McGann again. But McGann would have been the absolute wrong choice for The Day of the Doctor.
Don't get me wrong, The Night of the Doctor was an amazing treat and I adore it and I loved seeing McGann again. But McGann would have been the absolute wrong choice for The Day of the Doctor.
Honestly, the Eighth Doctor could be inserted into Day in the War Doctor's place with no change to the script at all. You'd still have the exact same character arc, except you could go further and make things meta with the "not a true Doctor" thing reflecting fandom's low opinion of the telemovie, Tennant and Smith's eventual acceptance of him reflecting fandom's gradual acceptance of McGann. You could even have the spontaneous regeneration at the end. Not to mention the Eight Doctor already exists in a no man's land between the classic and modern eras which Moffat said he wanted with the War Doctor.
Loved the Sylvester McCoy story. Very touching.
I like that Eccleson made sure to see Moffat in person; also liked that he's apparently been keeping up with the show!
I always thought that Eccleston seemed like a pretty decent guy and this only reinforces that. However, I was quite surprised to learn that he has kept up with the show since leaving. Personally, I think like Leonard Nimoy he'll come back to Doctor Who in someway in a few years. He wouldn't be the first actor who tried to distance himself from an iconic role then return to it.
I've never gotten the sense that Eccleston is trying to distance himself from Doctor Who -- he simply has no interest in revisiting it. He's more than willing to talk about it with fans (a couple of months ago, he was happy to take a picture with a friend of mine, his son and a stuffed koala wearing a Tom Baker scarf) and he doesn't make it a verboten question in interviews, he just literally doesn't want to go back to playing the Ninth Doctor.
I know which Doctor Who question to ask Eccleston if I get the chance:
Who's the better Marvel villain: you, Tennant, or Gillen?
(though we all know the answer to that one)
No spoilers but David Tennant plays one freaking evil dude.
Why? I mean, he may as well have been a new character to the vast majority of viewers. And for those who has seen the movie but not read or listened to spin-off material - most viewers, I'd hazard - he was pretty much a blank slate for a writer to do what he wanted with.
Tat Wood does a thorough demolition of this piece of received wisdom in About Time 7. His conclusion, based on the available evidence, is that Eccleston was pushed, rather than jumped. Partly it was due to miscommunications and Eccleston's poor (and deteriorating) relationships with Collinson and RTD. Partly it was a sense of betrayal when Eccleston learned they were sounding out his replacement before he had made a firm decision of series 2. When we get to the BBC's damage control, by then the bridge had already been burned; "[jumping] the gun" merely nuked the wreckage.
I wasn't aware that Eccleston might've been pushed out of the job. If that were the case, it utterly sucks.
In all fairness to Moffat, someone was going to have to deal with it in the near future assuming the show continued to rotate Doctors every few years. He just got it out of the way.
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