Ninth Doctor in the BBC TV Series 'Doctor Who' (2005)

Christopher Eccleston | Biography

Matt Jamison in the supernatural drama 'The Leftovers'

• By Anil Pradhan
• Update : January 24, 2022

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Christopher Eccleston is a television and film actor best known for his award-winning appearance as the Ninth Doctor in the BBC TV series Doctor Who (2005).

Short Bio

Born on 16 February 1964, in Lancashire, England, Christopher Eccleston is an award-winning English actor. He was born to his mother, Elsie, and father, Ronnie. Growing up in a working-class family, he spent his childhood days in Greater Manchester. 

He began acting in 1988 as stage artist Pablo Gonzalez in the play A Streetcar Desire. Later in 1990, Eccleston made his television debut as Dick in Blood Rights (TV Series). 

The following year, Eccleston landed the role in the movie as Derek Bentley in Let him have him. He also appeared in notable films, including Death and Compass (1992), Jude (1996), Legend (2015), and Where hands touch (2018).

Subsequently, he made several other TV appearances which included Rachel's Dream (1992 TV movie), Hearts and Minds (1995 TV series), Heroes (2007 TV Series), Blackout (2012 TV Mini-Series), etc.

His other well-known roles are Matt Amison in The Leftover (2014-2017 TV Series), Heinz in Where Hands Touch (2018 Movie), Maurice Scott in The A Word (2016-2020 TV Series), etc.

Most recently, he played Mr. Delvin's character in the 2021 TV movie My Name is Leon.

'Doctor Who'

Doctor Who is an adventurous BBC show associated with space and time travel. Originally the show first premiered in the UK on 23 November 1963. Telecasting 695 episodes through 26 seasons, the show dropped on 6 December 1969. Later, on 26 November 2005, BBC started airing a revival of the show.

Christopher Eccleston joined the revived show on its first season in 2005. He portrayed the show's most admired and prominent character, Doctor Who (Ninth Doctor). 

He appeared in 13 episodes of the first season. However, regardless of the praise and remarkable performance, he left the show after the first season.

The culture and work environment of the show was his reason behind leaving Doctor Who, says Eccleston in one of his 2010 interviews with Radio Times. 

"I was open-minded, but I decided after my experience on the first series that I didn't want to do any more. I didn't enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in," Eccleston said.

In the same interview, Eccleston also mentioned getting blacklisted from the BBC following his decision to quit the show.

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Despite getting his name on the black list, Eccleston gained worldwide fame through his performance. He even won the 'National Television Award' for 'Most Popular Actor' in 2005. The same year, he also received the 'SFX Award' for 'Best TV Actor' followed by several other nominations and awards.

Wife

Eccleston married his wife Mischka in November 2011. Mischka is a copywriter by profession. The couple stayed married for around four years. However, Eccleston and his ex-partner legally divorced in December 2015. 

They had two children together. Eccleston's son Alberta was born in February 2012, while their second child, Esme, was born in 2013. 

As of January 2022, he does not seem to be involved in any romantic relationship.

Mental Health Struggles

Eccleston has talked about his mental health problems on several occasions. It mainly happened to him when he faced an economic recession. His first experience with the problem was during the shoot of the BBC series, The A Word, in 2016. He was even hospitalized with severe clinical depression.

Talking about his struggles with Mirror UK in October 2021, he said, "I don't know whether it would be called psychosis, I was just convinced that I was about to die all night."

However, he has now recovered with constant support from his kids.