Eccleston is new Dr Who Shallow Grave actor Christopher Eccleston has been named as the new Doctor Who to front the cult BBC sci-fi show when it returns next year. Eccleston, who starred alongside Nicole Kidman in the horror movie The Others, will be the ninth TV Time Lord to control the Tardis in a 13-part series. The 40-year-old has starred in Flesh and Blood, The Second Coming, and TV series Our Friends in the North. The BBC said the Salford-born actor would take "a fresh, modern approach".
Jane Tranter, BBC Controller of Drama Commissioning, said: "We are delighted to have cast an actor of such calibre in one of British television's most iconic roles. "It signals our intention to take Doctor Who into the 21st century, as well as retaining its core traditional values - to be surprising, edgy and eccentric." Executive producer and writer Russell T Davies said: "Christopher was our first choice. "His casting raises the bar for all of us. It's going to be a magnificent, epic, entertaining journey, and I can't wait to start."
The hugely-popular Doctor Who show ran for 26 years from 1963 and the new series will be filmed in Cardiff later this year. He first came to public attention with his portrayal of Derek Bentley in the film, Let Him Have It before notching up a wealth of TV and movie credits. He was then snapped up by Hollywood and was cast in David Cronenberg's eXistenZ with Jude Law, and Gone in Sixty Seconds with Nicholas Cage. He trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.