7 Actors Who Hated Being On Doctor Who
1. Christopher Eccleston
While David Tennant and Matt Smith are the most popular Doctors from the modern era of the show, they wouldn't have had the opportunity to flourish if it wasn't for the success of Christopher Eccleston's brief tenure.
The amount of skepticism facing the 2005 revival of Doctor Who was insane, and yet, it overcame the odds and brought the show back for a whole new generation to discover and enjoy. At the centre of it all, Eccleston's down-to-earth, pally Doctor - a character who was relatively easy to connect with - was a big reason why it worked.
And yet, Eccleston doesn't look back at his time on the show through rose-tinted glasses. Ever since he left at the end of his first series, he's often discussed the topic of Doctor Who through a negative lens, not exactly shy about describing the turmoil that surrounded the production of his sole season, as well as his premature exit.
During a 2018 chat with The Guardian, Eccleston stated that Doctor Who "almost destroyed" his career, with the BBC supposedly putting him on their blacklist. This made it harder for him to find work in the UK, forcing him to head overseas.
Then, he told the Radio Times that making Doctor Who caused him personal and professional "damage", and that it was an extremely stressful environment to work in. He also indicated that the primary reason for this stress was because he didn't get along with showrunner Russell T Davies, or any of the other creative higher-ups:
"My relationship with my three immediate superiors - the showrunner, the producer and co-producer - broke down irreparably during the first block of filming and it never recovered."
Ever since 2005, there's been chatter that Eccleston just didn't enjoy making the show, and based on the actor's own words, it clearly wasn't a happy period in his life.
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