• Christopher Eccleston is a British actor whose roles have included the films 28 Days Later and The Seeker: The Dark is Rising. He was the ninth actor to play The Doctor in the perennial BBC series, Doctor Who.

• 1. Born: February 16, 1964
  2. Birthplace: Lancashire, England
  3. Education: Central School of Speech and Drama
  4. Appears in New Orleans Mon Amour, which premiered at the 2008 South by Southwest Film Festival.

• Key Performances

  Eccleston gained prominence in 1993 playing the irascible detective David Bilborough in the ITV series, Cracker. The character was killed off in 1994, reportedly at Eccleston's own request, in order to allow him to pursue greater opportunities. Prolific film and television work followed, generally as a character actor, in such diverse films as Gone in 60 Seconds and Shakespeare's Othello. Eccleston has also played the role of Claude on the NBC series, Heroes.

• The Ninth Doctor

  In 2005, Eccleston starred in Russell Davies's iteration of the series, Doctor Who, becoming the Ninth Doctor according to the show's canon. (In a 1996 TV special, Paul McGann barely made the official list as the Eighth Doctor). Eccleston's tenure proved to be the second-shortest in the run of the show, as within the year he was replaced by the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant.

Categories