Eccleston Talks More About His Controversial Doctor Who Exit
“What happened around Doctor Who almost destroyed my career,” he told the Guardian in an wide-ranging interview.
“I gave them a hit show and I left with dignity and then they put me on a blacklist. I was carrying my own insecurities as it was something I had never done before and then I was abandoned, vilified in the tabloid press and blacklisted.”
He continues: “I was told by my agent at the time: ‘The BBC regime is against you. You’re going to have to get out of the country and wait for regime change.’ So I went away to America and I kept on working because that’s what my parents instilled in me.”
Previously Eccleston has said it was “tragic” he didn’t get to play the Doctor for longer: “He’s a beautiful character and I have a great deal of professional pride [in it] and had I done a second season, there would’ve been a marked improvement in my performance.”
Though why he didn’t come back for Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary having been invited when a “regime change” was in place is still puzzling.