Christopher Eccleston Finally Reveals Why He Left DOCTOR WHO After One Season

I loved Christopher Eccleston as Doctor Who! He was the guy who successfully revived the series and he was so good! I was bummed out when he ended up leaving the series after only one season. I always wondered why that was the case, and now, 13 years later Eccleston reveals the reason in an interview with Radio Times explaining that he didn't have the best relationship with Showrunner Russell T. Davies: 

"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. They lost trust in me, and I lost faith and trust and belief in them.

"Some of my anger about the situation came from my own insecurity. They employed somebody [as the Doctor] who was not a natural light comedian. Billie [Piper], who we know was and is brilliant, was very, very nervous and very, very inexperienced. So, you had that, and then you had me. Very, very experienced, possibly the most experienced on it, but out of my comfort zone."

I would have never been able to tell he was out of his comfort zone because he worked so well in the role of The Doctor. The actor recently talked about how he was blacklisted by the BBC after he left, and that's after he told them he wouldn't do or say anything to try and damage the show. Eccleston went on to say:

"When I left, I gave my word to [then-showrunner] Russell T Davies that I wouldn’t do anything to damage the show. But they did things to damage me. I didn’t criticise anybody."

It's a shame that things played out the way they did. It would have been fun to see Eccleston do a couple more seasons. But then fans were blessed with the arrival of David Tennant, and everything worked out in the end for the show. Unfortunately for Eccleston, it made his life and career a lot more difficult. 

Via: Doctor Who TV