Christopher Eccleston Is New ‘Dr. Who,’ BBC Says
LONDON (Reuters) – Actor Christopher Eccleston has been named by the BBC as the new “Doctor Who” to front the cult science-fiction television series when it returns next year.
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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.
“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 late on Friday.
British-born Eccleston, 40, shot to fame with “Let Him Have It” for his portrayal of Derek Bentley, a mentally retarded British man who was hanged in the 1950s for a murder he did not commit.
Eccleston was snapped up by Hollywood for “Shallow Grave” and has starred in British TV series such as “The Second Coming.”
The hugely-popular Doctor Who show ran for 26 years from 1963. The new series will be filmed in Cardiff later this year.
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