The True Story Behind Christopher Eccleston's Doctor Who Exit
2. Eccleston Begins Attending Conventions
Five years after the huge 50th anniversary celebrations, Christopher Eccleston made his first convention appearance. Rather than a full-on Doctor Who convention, it was the London Film and Comic Con, and fans could get their photo taken with the Ninth Doctor for the princely sum of £95. Eccleston's appearances on the convention circuit also open up the opportunities for him to bump into other Doctor actors like Matt Smith, with their very tactile and lovely meeting going viral on social media.
Aside from the obvious financial gain, Eccleston was clearly attracted to the convention circuit by the opportunity to meet his fans. In a 2016 video for BBC Raw to discuss The A Word, Eccleston talks with fan Gerard Groves about the series, autism and is visibly moved when Groves talks about the impact his portrayal of the Doctor had on his childhood. It chimes with Eccleston's own reflections on the impact of the role on those kids that were growing up in 2005, watching him as the Ninth Doctor.
"Everywhere I go, Cornwall, Belfast, Glasgow, wherever, I now get people of a certain age, mid-twenties, coming up to me. ‘You were my Doctor,’ they tell me."