Doctor set to regenerate as Eccleston to quit

Some 10 million fans tuned in to the new series of Doctor Who as it made a much-anticipated return to our screens last Saturday.

But although Christopher Eccleston, who plays the latest Doctor, successfully saw off the Autons and received a warm response from viewers and critics alike, the actor has taken the decision to quit the series.

The news, confirmed by the BBC today, is sure to disappoint many who eagerly tuned after the 16-year hiatus.

Eccleston, a well-respected British character actor, with a back catalogue that includes Shallow Grave, Jude, Othello and The Second Coming, is apparently worried about being typecast as the Timelord.

While typecasting is a fate often suffered by soap actors, including Jack Ryder (EastEnders’ Jamie Mitchell) and Julie Goodyear (Coronation Street’s Bet Lynch), who have both done little since leaving their long-standing roles, Boyd Hilton, TV Editor of Heat magazine, is not convinced that Eccleston would face the same problem.

“It’s a different kind of role for him, certainly. As a lead actor who’s used to playing characters like Hamlet, he’s done some much heavier roles in the past.

“But would any viewer really think of Christopher Eccleston as a Timelord who can only do Timelord characters?”

In fact, Hilton suggests that Eccleston’s decision could be more of a problem for the show itself, which had already been commissioned for another series.

“Apart from the one-off special with Paul McGann, no-one’s ever done it just for one series – it lessens the impact of the show. There is a middle ground between just doing one series and doing five or six years, it seems odd that he decided he couldn’t do more than one.”

The famously private Eccleston has admitted he found the role challenging, saying: “It’s great, all the profile you get, but it’d a difficult thing to do. You’re the motor for every scene, and you have to deliver a lot of pseudo and scientific jargon and give it some charisma and wit.”