Doctor Who: 20 Things You Didn't Know About The Ninth Doctor

15. Eccleston Approached RTD About Playing The Role

Doctor Who Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston
BBC Studios

Considering how much Eccleston has spoken about the poor experience he had while making Doctor Who, it might surprise you to learn that it was actually him who approached Russell T Davies about playing the Doctor in the first place.

You'd expect it to be the other way round, but apparently, it was Eccleston who emailed Davies and asked to be considered for the role, a move that clearly paid off – quite literally!

One of the reasons Eccleston was so keen to play the Doctor was that he had never done anything like it before, including all the comedy associated with the role. He said:

"There's also the challenge for me of the comic element to the Doctor's character. I hadn't done a great deal of comedy before and I wanted to try that."

When you consider that Eccleston was mainly known for gritty dramas at the time, it's actually not a surprise that he wanted to stretch his legs a bit.

Contributor
Contributor

Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.