Christopher Eccleston has claimed he was “blacklisted” by the BBC after leaving hit show Doctor Who after just one series.
The acclaimed actor, who played the Ninth Doctor in 2005, left after just one series and says his decision to move on was “greeted with speculation and hostility, much exacerbated by the BBC’s mishandling of the situation”.
Eccleston says that the whole debacle almost “destroyed” his career, landing him on a “blacklist” while the tabloids dragged him through the mill and forced him to go abroad for the sake of work.
He told The Guardian: “What happened around Doctor Who almost destroyed my career. 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.”
The actor continued: “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. My dad always said to me: ‘I don’t care what you do – sweeping the floor or whatever you’re doing – just do the best job you can’.”
Doctor Who Time Lords - In pictures
The 54-year-old added: “I know it’s cliched and northern and all that b******s, but it applies.”
BBC declined to comment when contacted by Standard Online.
Over in the United States, Eccleston started in big on-screen hits including Thor: The Dark World and GI Joe: The Rise Of Cobra.
Most recently, fans have adored the Mancunian in BBC’s The A Word and ITV’s Safe House.
