Can you arrange that?
[I left because of] the politics of the show.
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 …
They had previously worked together on a series calledSecond Coming, and had a great working relationship.
Eccleston said he emailed Davies to ask for an audition, and obviously got the role.
So the fact that I was not exactly their idea appealed to them, I think.
When Eccleston left the show, the story was big news in the British press.
In the UK, they never talk about the positives, Eccleston said.
When I left, all they wanted to talk about was why I left.
They never wanted to talk about the fact that I did 13 episodes.
I was blacklisted in my own country for four years.
Thats unofficial, but it was clear that it was happening.
And I learned about politics of power and money, and I got my confidence back.
So I looked at it and I thought, Is this really the way I want to come back?
And I decided it wasnt.
Eccleston praised the end result.
I just thought that script was immaculate.
And I think it added to the canon ofDoctor Whoin a way that me coming back wouldnt.
I was never as sure what Russell wanted.
I think Stevens writing of the Doctor, or my Doctor, was really a gift to me.
Its a ruthless business.
Actors lives are not perfect and actors are not perfect, said Eccleston.
They make mistakes and they understand theyre flawed.
And sometimes we push this idealized idea that theyre gods, and theyre not.
Theyre fools, bigger fools than everybody, probably.
Will we ever see the Ninth Doctor again?
But I am coming back… he joked in 2019 at NYCC.
Im gonna do the 100th anniversary.
In 2063, the Ninth Doctor will return.
Were holding you to it, Eccleston.
