CHRISTOPHER Eccleston has claimed Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies drove him from the show.
The actor attended New York Comic Con to talk about his time on the rebooted BBC One show and suffice to say he didn’t mince his words.
Tearing into the production team, he claimed the management of the show bred a culture of disrespect that ultimately motivated his decision to leave.
“I left because my relationship with the showrunner [Russell T Davies] and the producers broke down – [it was] the politics of the show,” he said.
“I left only because of those three individuals, and the way they were running the show. I loved playing the character and I loved the world,” he went on.
“That’s one of the reasons I’ve started doing these conventions, to make that clear – I loved playing the Doctor.
“I felt, ‘I’m gonna play the Doctor my way and I’m not gonna get involved in these politics’… and that wasn’t workable, so off I went.”
Eccleston claimed his working class background also made him aware of the mistreatment of other members of the crew.
He branded the power structure “ruthless” and recounted how he completely lost respect for his superiors based on their behaviour towards other.
“Because of my background, when I go onto a set it’s very important to me that everybody’s treated with respect, and that’s because I come from a class of people who traditionally are not treated with respect,” he continued.
“I always look to the director and the producer… and if the director, for instance, treats a member of the crew badly and then comes to speak to me about my performance, I have no respect for them and I don’t listen to them and that’s difficult.
“There were certain things that went on. As an actor, you’re working with a crew and you get very close to that crew, so there were things that I saw that I didn’t like. The crew, I felt, could’ve been treated better. But I often feel that – it’s a ruthless business.”
Eccleston concluded that his decision to leave the show meant he sacrificed “some professional pride,” because he felt any actor should stick around for at least two seasons of a show to make their mark.
Recently, the actor has opened up extensively about his personal life, tying in with the release of his autobiography.
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He later insisted that if he ever contracted dementia, as his late father did, he would pursue euthanasia.
He also claimed that his role on Doctor Who should’ve gone to a woman, claiming it was time for “white, middle-aged men to step aside.”
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