The Doctors Who's Who (22 page)

The Others
succeeds because of the unease and tension the director brings to the movie, with the aid of the key actors. The children’s aversion to sunlight, combined with the choice of
lighting and colour bring an extra dimension to the film, even though the story is a tried and proven one.

Eccleston wasn’t a fan of
Doctor Who
. He said that he had seen it in passing while growing up, but it was Davies and the work they had achieved before
Doctor Who
that had attracted him to the part and he played it for as long as any other serialisation, just for a one-off season.

On taking the role of the Doctor, he explained (to chat-show host Jonathan Ross) that the Doctor was known as ‘a posh part’ and that he was ‘not going to be everybody’s cup of tea’. He also explained to Ross that when he pictured the Doctor he saw Patrick Troughton (a Doctor also favoured by Matt Smith). He also explained that Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker were the other two Doctors he was most aware of.

One could say that Eccleston had a bit of a chip on his shoulder regarding the ‘posh’ accent of the previous Doctors; indeed, he mentioned that a Mancunian now had the prime BBC slot – himself – while two Geordies had the prime ITV slot – Ant and Dec.

Eccleston’s Doctor could handle himself. He looked the part. No longer a cosmic hobo and/or an eccentric professor, he was a no-nonsense fixer of hostile extra-terrestrial activity, a kind of Jon Pertwee figure in street clothes.

His first story ‘Rose’ sees him battle against an old
Doctor Who
foe, the Autons (the Nestine Intelligence from the Pertwee years). Fast paced and filled with incident, it was the perfect introduction to the new-look show. Billie Piper was the ideal modern girl to be the new
Doctor Who
companion, so suddenly the show was off on a brand-new rollercoaster.

Some viewers thought it amusing that the show had come back, and so successfully too. Some old fans were flabbergasted that it was now considered ‘cool’ (or as certain
children called it ‘sick’ – meaning cool), when it used to be strictly for SF anoraks. But it was well made, it had a quality budget, production team and, of course, a quality selection of regular actors. When John Barrowman turned up in ‘The Empty Child’, women swooned. With all tastes catered for through Eccleston, Piper and Barrowman,
Doctor Who
was suddenly sexy.

One of the great achievements of the new series was the selfcontained story. In the old days,
Doctor Who
was made up of a set of 25-minute episodes (normally spread over a month – four episodes), but nowadays the stories were started and finished in no more than two 50-minute episodes (many being one solitary episode long). The reason for this was explained by the show’s producer, Russell T. Davies: because life was lived at a much faster pace in the new millennium, people were not prepared to wait four weeks to see a whole story. He was right and the season finale, which took in many recurring themes – and some sub-themes – throughout the season, made for a strong and satisfying conclusion. The very fact that the Daleks were involved – many of them, in fact more than ever before – was an added thrill for the long-term fans.

The season finale, ‘Bad Wolf’/‘The Parting of the Ways’, was a breath-taking piece of television.
Doctor Who
was getting five stars right across the board from critics and, when Rose Tyler is captured by the Daleks, the Doctor – not unlike a chivalrous knight in shining armour – tells her that he is coming to get her amid a horde of Dalek protests, top viewing figures were achieved. Russell T. Davies had pulled off the perfect comeback: the cast were household names, the show had completely regenerated into something new and quite special… and then Christopher Eccleston announced that it was time to go.

Virtually everyone was shocked, but Eccleston didn’t look back.

After he left
Doctor Who
, it was announced at the Cannes Film Festival that he was to star in a Lynda La Planteproduced SF romantic comedy,
Double Life
. This sent the message that Eccleston hadn’t dismissed the SF genre. One might have thought that his career would have changed direction after
Doctor Who
but this wasn’t strictly true – not immediately anyway.

In 2005, Eccleston provided the commentary for
Best Ever Muppet Moments
. Diversely, he also appeared on stage at the Old Vic Theatre in London in
Night Sky
. This one-night play also featured Navin Chowdhry, David Warner, Bruno Langley, Saffron Burrows and David Baddiel.

It was announced on 20 December 2005 that Eccleston would star as Christopher Marlowe in Peter Whelan’s
The School of Night
, an inspired piece of casting – but alas, the production was cancelled on 6 January. This setback didn’t turn Eccleston away from the Elizabethan genre, though. In May 2006, he appeared as the narrator in the Lowry Theatre (Salford) production of
Romeo and Juliet
. This showcased Eccleston working with actors with learning difficulties in his hometown. This return to his roots and concern for those less fortunate is a side of him that is rarely appreciated, which is a shame as he is quite a misunderstood person in that respect. Indeed, his depth of feeling – as an actor and human being – made him the BBC Breakfast narrator of the tsunami disaster, for which he flew out to Indonesia (December 2005). Eccleston was the perfect choice to explain how people were rebuilding their lives after the tragedy of Boxing Day 2004.

In 2006 he starred in
Perfect Parents
, an ITV drama written and directed by Joe Ahearne, who had directed him in
Doctor Who
. In 2007 he played a more obscure role, as the Rider in a film adaptation of Susan Cooper’s novel
The Seeker: The Dark is Rising
: A young man’s life is changed when he realises that he is the last in a line of immortal warriors dedicated to fighting the forces of darkness. It was a fun role, which proved that Eccleston could let his hair down amidst the more heavyweight roles.

Eccleston travelled back across the Atlantic to take part in
New Orleans
,
Mon Armour
(2008). He then played a character called Claude in the episode ‘Godsend’ in NBC’s
Heroes
.

In 2009 he starred opposite Archie Panjabi in the short film
The Happiness Salesman
. He then went on to win an International Emmy Award for his part in Episode One of the BBC drama
Accused
(2010). Eccleston played a lapsed Catholic in the dock for committing adultery. Each episode detailed a different person and their reasons for being in the dock, in what were deep and sensitive parts. Once again, he was working with Jimmy McGovern and produced one of his most impressive performances yet.

2010 was a good year for Eccleston, as he also gave a commanding performance as rock genius John Lennon in the BBC4 film
Lennon Naked
(2010). Made as part of Fatherhood season, the film focused on how Lennon’s childhood haunted his adulthood. He starred alongside Naoko Mori (who played Yoko Ono), who had appeared with him in
Doctor Who
.

Eccleston’s interpretation of Lennon instantly captivated his audience with perfect voice and mannerisms. The way he understood the humiliation of Lennon’s very public reunion with his father (played by Christopher Fairbank) shows his sensitivity as an actor; and then his portrayal of the way Lennon treated Julian, his son from his first marriage, horrifies the audience.

Lennon Naked
was a true-to-life play showcasing a very
personal side of John Lennon’s life. Although Lennon was happy to castigate his father, he couldn’t see how, or wasn’t prepared to do anything, to save his own son from the same hurt of a broken marriage and the scars of a fatherless youth, as he himself had been subjected to.

Eccleston’s portrayal of Lennon was of a man so wrapped up in his own troubled mind – but rushed through life by the people around him – he couldn’t see or discriminate the moral dilemmas of his personal life.

Lennon Naked
was one of the finest interpretations of the icon of a generation that was John Lennon. The script was specific, the music score made up of the original songs and there was even real footage of The Beatles to link together the key moments in Lennon’s life. It was quality stuff.

In 2011 Eccleston played Joseph Bede in a seven-part drama for BBC2 called
The Shadow Line
. The first episode was screened on 12 April 2011 at BAFTA’s Princess Anne Theatre in Piccadilly, and was followed by a Q&A session, which featured Eccleston.

The Shadow
Line
is a great story showing how the police and the criminal underworld have different ways of investigating the same murder case, crossing many a moral line along the way. It was an excellent series that deserved a follow-up; but sadly one wasn’t commissioned.

On 31 December that year Eccleston played Pod Clock in a marvellous adaptation of Mary Norton’s children’s classic
The Borrowers
(BBC1).

The Borrowers
, like most children’s classics, had been done before, but new technology in special effects really adds to the thrills and Eccleston’s version is one of the most memorable. His interpretation of Clock is that of a stern father and really reflects the original story well.

In July 2012 he starred in the political thriller
Blackout
for the BBC, while during the same month he played Creon in
Antigone
at the Royal National Theatre, where critics called his part ‘charismatic’ and ‘intense’, which describes his special blend of acting quite crisply.

It appears that
Doctor Who
hasn’t restricted Eccleston’s career at all. If it has done anything, it has opened a previously closed door of SF, which now stands proudly open to provide a little respite from the more serious roles he undertakes. Also, it may have persuaded him to take the odd lighter role to balance those intense and dark roles.

But let us return to the reasons why Eccleston left
Doctor Who
. In June 2010 he explained: ‘I didn’t enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in. I wasn’t comfortable.’

This is explanation enough, as it exposes the very private – but highly talented – actor that Eccleston is. John Barrowman implied in his autobiography that David Tennant fitted into the
Doctor Who
family more than Eccleston had. This takes nothing away from what was a fabulous performance from Eccleston, as he himself qualifies: ‘…the most important thing is that I did it, not that I left. I really feel that, because it kind of broke the mould and it helped to reinvent it. I’m very proud of it.’

The BBC released an apology after insinuating that Eccleston had found the series gruelling and feared being typecast, which indeed he didn’t, and wasn’t. He treated
Doctor Who
just as any other part he had taken – professionally, passionately and originally, then he moved on dispassionately to concentrate on many other roles in diverse genres. In this respect he really does emulate his predecessor Patrick Troughton, especially with regard to Troughton’s natural reluctance to giving too many
interviews: isn’t it indeed wrong for a character actor to reveal his own personality to the general public? Doesn’t it make acting so much harder to do if people know you as a person and not just the character in front of them on screen?

‘I durst the great celestial battles tell,

Hundred-hand Gyges, and had done it well.’

Elegia I
 
Christopher Marlowe

CHAPTER TWELVE

DAVID TENNANT

‘Time travel is increasingly regarded as a menace. History is being polluted.’

Life, the Universe and Everything 
Douglas Adams

DAVID TENNANT WAS
born David John McDonald on 18 April 1971 in Bathgate, West Lothian. He grew up in Ralston, Renfrewshire. His father was Alexander ‘Sandy’ McDonald, the local Church of Scotland minister. David had two older siblings, Blair and Karen, six and eight years his senior.

The young David attended Ralston Primary School and Paisley Grammar School, before earning a bachelor’s degree from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

He always had aspirations to become an actor (from the age of three) and, not unlike many other children growing up in the 1970s, he wanted to be Doctor Who. He managed to meet Tom Baker at a book signing in Glasgow and his single-mindedness seemed to persist right through to the role he made his own – just like his multi-coloured-scarfed mentor – for a
whole new generation after the show was re-launched in the new millennium.

When joining Equity, David found that he couldn’t use his own name, as there was already an actor called David McDonald and so, inspired by a writer at
Smash Hits
magazine (and front-man of pop group the Pet Shop Boys), he used the surname, Tennant.

It wasn’t long before Tennant started to get roles on Scottish TV, one of his first being in an anti-smoking advert for Scottish TV. Extremely young, he played a teenager called Jim who is a smoker; but one of his gang refuses to buckle to the pressure of her peers to join in. It’s a good short film (5 minutes in duration).

One of his most famous Scottish parts was as an over-the-top transvestite barmaid in
Rab C. Nesbitt
. From this unusual start, he was noticed by the BBC and began to receive roles, albeit small ones to begin with.

Ever keen on the theatre, Tennant kept up the pace by treading the boards alongside his TV and occasional film work. His energy and natural enthusiasm shone through at all times and he became quite prolific. Years later, actors such as John Barrowman and Billie Piper would comment on Tennant’s fun side, despite the hard workload on
Doctor Who
. This was sometimes discussed in comparison to his more serious predecessor Christopher Eccleston, which was a shame as Eccleston was an entirely different type of actor.