Christopher Eccleston is an English actor known for his extensive television work, most
notably for his role as the Ninth Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who.
He has also appeared on stage and in films such as Let Him Have It, Shallow Grave, Jude,
Elizabeth, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, 28 Days Later, The Seeker, G.I.
Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Thor: The Dark World.
Early life Born into a working class family in Langworthy,
Lancashire, Eccleston is the youngest of three sons of Elsie and Ronnie Eccleston.
His brothers, Alan and Keith, are twins, eight years his senior.
The family lived in a small terraced house in Blodwell Street until the late 1960s, when
they moved to Little Hulton.
Eccleston attended Joseph Eastham High School, where he became head boy.
At the age of 19, he was inspired to enter the acting profession by television dramas
such as Boys from the Blackstuff.
Eccleston completed a two-year Performance Foundation Course at Salford Tech before going
on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
As an actor, he was influenced in his early years by Ken Loach's Kes and Albert Finney's
performance in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, but he soon found himself performing the classics,
including the works of Shakespeare, Chekhov and Molière.
At the age of 25, Eccleston made his professional stage debut in the Bristol Old Vic's production
of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Underemployed as an actor for some years after graduating school, Eccleston took a variety
of odd jobs at a supermarket, on building sites, and as an artist's model.
Career Early work
Eccleston first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in the 1991 film Let Him Have
It and an episode of Inspector Morse, "Second Time Around", also in 1991.
In 1992 he played the role of Sean Maddox in the BBC drama miniseries Friday on my MInd.
A regular role in the television series Cracker brought him recognition in the UK and, after
he told TV bosses of his desire to leave the series, they killed off his character in October
1994, making him a victim of the serial killer Albie Kinsella.
At around the same time, Eccleston appeared in the episode "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe"
of the Poirot series adapted from mysteries by Agatha Christie.
He appeared in the low-budget Danny Boyle 1994 film Shallow Grave, in which he co-starred
with actor Ewan McGregor.
The same year, he won the part of Nicky Hutchinson in the epic BBC drama serial Our Friends in
the North, whose broadcast on BBC Two in 1996 helped make him a household name in the UK.
Eccleston starred in an ensemble cast that included actors Mark Strong and Gina McKee
as well as Daniel Craig.
In 1996, he took the part of Trevor Hicks - a man who lost both of his daughters in
the 1989 Hillsborough disaster - in the television drama film Hillsborough, penned by Jimmy McGovern.
In real life, he was the best man to Trevor Hicks at his marriage in March 2009.
His film career has since taken off with a variety of high-profile roles, including the
title role in Jude, Elizabeth, eXistenZ, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Others, 24 Hour Party People,
and 28 Days Later.
He played a major role as the protagonist of the 2002 Revengers Tragedy, adapted from
Thomas Middleton's play of the same name.
He starred in the independent films A Price Above Rubies and The Invisible Circus.
He starred in the car-heist film Gone in 60 Seconds, but did not take his driving test
until January 2004.
He said on BBC's Top Gear that his licence restricts him to vehicles with automatic transmission.
He has appeared in a variety of television roles, especially in British dramas.
These have included Hearts and Minds for Channel 4, Clocking Off and Flesh and Blood for the
BBC and Hillsborough, a modern version of Othello, playing 'Ben Jago',; and the religious
telefantasy epic The Second Coming for ITV, in which he played Steve Baxter, the son of
God.
He has made guest appearances in episodes of the comedy drama Linda Green and macabre
sketch show The League of Gentlemen.
Eccleston appeared in a stage role in Hamlet in the 2002 production at Leeds's West Yorkshire
Playhouse.
March–April 2004 saw him return to the venue in a new play, Electricity.
Eccleston has been twice nominated in the Best Actor category at the British Academy
Television Awards.
His first nomination came in 1997 for Our Friends in the North, but he lost to Nigel
Hawthorne.
He was nominated in 2004 for The Second Coming; Bill Nighy won for State of Play.
Eccleston won the Best Actor category at the 1997 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for Our
Friends in the North.
In 2003 he won the RTS Best Actor award for a second time, for his performance in Flesh
and Blood.
In July 2004, a poll of industry experts, conducted by Radio Times magazine, voted Eccleston
the "19th Most Powerful Person in Television Drama."
Doctor Who On 2 April 2004, it was announced that Eccleston
was to play the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the revival of the BBC science fiction
television series Doctor Who, which began transmission on 26 March 2005.
Eccleston was the first actor to play the role who was born after the series began,
albeit by less than three months.
On 30 March 2005, the BBC released a statement, ostensibly from Eccleston, saying that he
had decided to leave the role after just one series, because he feared becoming typecast.
On 4 April 2005, the BBC revealed that Eccleston's "statement" was falsely attributed and released
without his consent.
The BBC admitted that they had broken an agreement made in January not to disclose publicly that
he only intended to do one series.
The statement had been made after journalists made queries to the press office.
On 11 June 2005, during a BBC radio interview, when asked if he had enjoyed working on Doctor
Who, Eccleston responded by saying, "Mixed, but that's a long story."
Eccleston's reasons for leaving the role continue to be debated in Britain's newspapers: on
4 October 2005 Alan Davies told The Daily Telegraph that Eccleston had been "overworked"
by the BBC, and had left the role because he was "exhausted".
Ten days later, Eccleston told the Daily Mirror this was not true, and expressed some irritation
at Davies for his comments.
In a 2010 interview, Eccleston revealed that he left the show because he "didn't enjoy
the environment and the culture that the cast and crew had to work in", but that he was
proud of having played the role.
On 7 November 2008, at the National Theatre to promote his book The Writer's Tale, Russell
T. Davies said that Eccleston's contract was for a single year because it was uncertain
whether the show would continue beyond a single revival series.
In retrospect, he says, it has been an enormous success, but at the time there were doubts
within the BBC.
Eccleston was voted "Most Popular Actor" at the 2005 National Television Awards for his
portrayal of the Doctor.
In July 2012, Eccleston spoke positively of his time on Doctor Who during a talk at the
National Theatre.
This led to speculation he was considering making a return appearance as the Ninth Doctor
for the show's 50th anniversary in 2013.
The 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, stated that he would love Eccleston to return.
However, after discussing with executive producer Steven Moffat, Eccleston declined his role.
Recent works On 30 October 2005, Eccleston appeared on
stage at the Old Vic theatre in London in the one-night play Night Sky alongside Navin
Chowdhry, Bruno Langley, David Warner, Saffron Burrows and David Baddiel.
Eccleston sat on the 2nd Amazonas International Film Festival Film Jury in November 2005.
The director Norman Jewison was chairman of the Jury.
In December 2005, Eccleston travelled to Indonesia's Aceh province for the BBC Breakfast news programme,
examining how survivors of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami were rebuilding their lives.
In March 2006, Eccleston appeared in the ITV documentary special Best Ever Muppet Moments
as a commentator.
In May 2006, he appeared as the narrator in a production of Romeo and Juliet at the Lowry
theatre in his home city of Salford.
The theatre company with which he performed, Celebrity Pig, is made up of learning disabled
actors.
In August 2006, Eccleston filmed New Orleans, Mon Amour with Elisabeth Moss.
The film was directed by Michael Almereyda and shot in post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.
It was released in 2008 to film festivals in America and Italy.
Late in 2006 he starred in Perfect Parents, an ITV drama written and directed by Joe Ahearne,
who had directed him in Doctor Who.
Eccleston joined the cast of the NBC TV series Heroes in the episode "Godsend", which was
broadcast on 22 January 2007.
Eccleston played a character named Claude who has the power of invisibility, and helps
Peter Petrelli with his powers.
Eccleston appeared as the Rider in a film adaptation of Susan Cooper's novel The Dark
Is Rising, which opened in the USA on 5 October 2007.
Eccleston appeared on the BBC Four World Cinema Award show in February 2008, arguing the merits
of five international hits such as The Lives of Others and Pan's Labyrinth with Jonathan
Ross and Archie Panjabi.
In 2009, Eccleston starred opposite Archie Panjabi in a short film called The Happiness
Salesman.
Eccleston agreed to do the film because of Panjabi and the fact that it was a winner
of the British Short Screenplay Competition.
He also appeared as the villainous Destro in the G.I.
Joe film, G.I.
Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
Eccleston also appeared in an episode of The Sarah Silverman Program as the titular cult
favourite science fiction hero in a show-within-the-show called "Dr. Laser Rage", possibly in reference
to his stint in Doctor Who.
Eccleston was cast as John Lennon in a BBC production called Lennon Naked which aired
in the UK on 23 June 2010, with Eccleston playing the title role, and Naoko Mori, who
had previously appeared with him in Doctor Who, as Yoko Ono.
In November 2010, Eccleston starred in the first episode of BBC One anthology drama Accused.
He won an International Emmy Award for his role.
In May 2011, he starred as Joseph Bede in The Shadow Line, a seven-part television drama
serial for BBC Two.
On 31 December 2011, Eccleston played the role of Pod Clock in an adaptation of Mary
Norton's children's novel The Borrowers on BBC One.
In July 2012, he starred in the political thriller Blackout on BBC One.
In the same month, he starred as Creon in an adaptation of Antigone at the Royal National
Theatre; his performance in the play was called "charismatic" and "intense".
In 2013, Eccleston portrayed the villainous Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, the sequel
to Thor and the eighth installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Personal life Eccleston is married and became a father to
his first child, Albert, in February 2012.
He is an atheist.
He is a supporter of Manchester United, and was a regular marathon runner until 2000.
In September 2007, as part of their £9.5m build scheme, Salford's Pendleton College
named their new 260-seat theatre the "Eccleston Theatre".
Eccleston is an avid charity worker, becoming a Mencap charity ambassador on 28 April 2005,
and is also a supporter of the British Red Cross.
Filmography Film
Television Stage
Performances with unknown dates Woyzeck – Birmingham Rep
The Wonder – Gate Theatre Encounters – National Theatre Studio
Radio and narration Music videos
Awards and nominations References
External links Christopher Eccleston at the Internet Movie
Database Christopher Eccleston at AllMovie
Christopher Eccleston at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
The Guardian Unlimited Interview – Home Truths
The Independent Interview – You've got to laugh
BBC Drama Faces: Christopher Eccleston