Christopher Eccleston

He is the youngest of three sons of Ronnie and Elsie Eccleston.

He was the first actor to play the title character in a "Doctor Who" story to be born after the show first commenced in November 1963.

He follows in a long line of well-known actors to have portrayed the character of the Doctor from Doctor Who on screen: William Hartnell , Patrick Troughton , Jon Pertwee , Tom Baker , Peter Davison , Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy all played the role in the original television series, while Paul McGann played the role in the 1996 television movie and Peter Cushing played it in two films made in the 1960s.

He has retained his Lancashire accent.

Although he admitted in interviews that he was never a "fan" or even a keen viewer of "Doctor Who" , he did see some episodes and his earliest memory of seeing it was Second Doctor Patrick Troughton in the black-and-white episodes of the late 1960s.

He was cast in Terry Gilliam s The Man who Killed Don Quixote, but did not film any scenes before production closed down. In the documentary Lost in La Mancha , his photograph appears on a pin-board featuring photos of the cast.

He emailed his old friend, the writer and producer Russell T. Davies , and asked to be put on the list of possibles for the title role in the revival of "Doctor Who" series. He has claimed in interviews that he was not a fan of the original "Doctor Who" and was really attracted to take the part because of his admiration for Davies as a writer.

The BBC admitted that they announced his departure from "Doctor Who" too early. It was agreed in the January that he would only do one series and a Christmas special. The announcement of his departure should have be made about halfway through the new series run.

He turned down a role in Steven Spielberg s Saving Private Ryan .

He is one of three "Doctor Who" actors who portrayed The Doctor on television to appear in an episode of "Casualty" . The others are Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy.

He is a vegetarian and a very keen runner.

He passed his driving test in January 2004 but is only qualified to drive an automatic.

Of the twelve actors to play the Doctor in "Doctor Who" , Doctor Who and "Doctor Who" , he, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi are the only ones who never worked with the late Nicholas Courtney , who played Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart in the former from 1968 to 1989 as well as in numerous Big Finish audio dramas.

He is the younger brother of twins Alan Eccleston and Keith Eccleston.

He is the uncle of Peter Eccleston and Rebecca Eccleston , who acted with him in Let Him Have It .

He often collaborates with Phyllida Lloyd on stage.

One of his co-stars in Let Him Have It was Mark McGann , who is the younger brother of Paul McGann , his immediate predecessor as the Doctor.

According to an interview with Eccleston in the August 2010 issue of Mojo magazine, his favorite album is "Whats Going On" by Marvin Gaye.

Eccleston married in 2010, and became a father to his first child, Albert, in February 2012. His wifes name has never been made public, but Eccleston spoke movingly about her and his son at a talk at the National Theatre in July 2012, comparing her to his own beloved mother.

He is a supporter of Manchester United Football Club.

He is a supporter of the British Red Cross Society.

He has two children, a son Albert born 2012, and a daughter Esme born 2014.

Eccleston is an avid charity worker, becoming a Mencap charity ambassador on 28 April 2005, and is also a supporter of the British Red Cross. He also supports research for Alzheimers disease and other forms of dementia; his father, Ronnie, suffered from vascular dementia in his later years, until his death in 2012.

Prior to being cast as The Ninth Doctor in "Doctor Who" , he was offered the role of The Eighth Doctor in Doctor Who .

As an actor, he was influenced in his early years by Kes and Albert Finney s performance in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning .

The reasons as to why he left "Doctor Who" after one season are vague. He implied that he didnt enjoy the environment that the cast and crew had to work in and didnt get along with some of the higher-ups. He also objected to the mistreatment of some of the non-actor personnel by one of the directors. Russell T. Davies stated that Eccleston was only given a one-series contract, because the BBC had no idea if the new series would be successful.

He auditioned for the role of Stuart in "Queer as Folk" . He would later collaborate with creator Russell T. Davies in "The Second Coming" and "Doctor Who" .

In 2015, he reprised his role as The Ninth Doctor to record special message for a 14 year old fan in hospital and another for a newly engaged couple.

He didnt take his driving test until January 2004. He said on "Top Gear" that his licence restricts him to vehicles with automatic transmission.

He was considered for the role of Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow in Batman Begins .

He was considered for the role of Silas in The Da Vinci Code .

In July 2004, a poll of industry experts, conducted by Radio Times magazine, voted Eccleston the "19th Most Powerful Person in Television Drama.".

He was inspired to enter the acting profession at age 19 by such television dramas as "Boys from the Blackstuff" .

In September 2007, as part of a 9.5m building scheme, Salfords Pendleton College named its new 260-seat auditorium the Eccleston Theatre.

During phases of unemployment as an actor for some years after graduating from drama school, Eccleston took a variety of odd jobs at a supermarket, on building sites and as an artists model.

Eccleston made his professional stage debut at age 25 in the Bristol Old Vics production of A Streetcar Named Desire .

He was going to reprise his role as The Ninth Doctor in the 50th Anniversary Special "Doctor Who" {The Day of the Doctor} . After meeting with Steven Moffat , he politely declined the opportunity. Reasons vary from him being unavailable, to him not being interested, to his request that Joe Ahearne direct be declined. His role was given to John Hurt s War Doctor and, along with the previous eight Doctors, he appears via stock footage and body doubles.

He was the second actor to play the Doctor who had studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama. The first had been Peter Davison.

Many years before playing the Ninth Doctor, one of his earliest television roles was in "Friday on My Mind" , which was produced by Philip Hinchcliffe , who had coincidentally been the producer of "Doctor Who" in its most popular period from 1975 to 1977.

Any horror element is as much psychological as special effects.

I love my accent, I thought it was useful in,Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000) because the standard villain is,upper class or Cockney. My Northern accent would be an odd clash,opposite Nic Cage.

I think theatre is by far the most rewarding experience for an actor.

You get 4 weeks to rehearse your character and then at 7:30 pm you,start acting and nobody stops you, acting with your entire soul.

I think the themes of belonging and parentage and love are obviously,universal.

We all need a firm sense of identity.

The money is better in films and television. But in terms of acting,theatre is more rewarding.

It can be very difficult to trace your birth parents.

I had bags of energy as a kid.

Lots of middle class people are running around pretending to be Cockney.

I love "Dead Ringers" (2002) . A democratic set, the work was,taken seriously.

I heard the various terms of abuse at school and probably indulged them,in the way you do as a kid.

On The Others (2001) , very atmospheric and probably mysterious is,how I would say it felt to be on the set. It felt just a little uneasy,the atmosphere that we were trying to capture.

I had to help to coax the performances and I really enjoyed that extra,responsibility.

Jacobean plays, before Shakespeare, were particularly visceral.

I just had to tell the narrative.

The person who gives you your first job is so important in any industry.

We like to think that our parents made a decision to bring us into the,world.

What goes down on film is different to what you see with the naked eye.

[on Flesh and Blood (2002) (TV) ] The film is about Joe,discovering who his mother and father are and his relationship with,them, and the identity crisis he goes through once he finds out who his,parents are.

I went being unemployed for three years to being the lead in a British,feature in the days when we only made two a year, 1990. It was,ridiculous really.

[on Hillsborough (1996) (TV) ] This will show what television is,really for.