Christopher Eccleston is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction.
His film debut, playing Derek Bentley in the film Let Him Have It (1991), was his breakout role. [1] [2] A regular part as DCI Bilborough in the crime drama Cracker (1993–94) brought him widespread recognition in the UK. [3] [4] Following a role in Danny Boyle's film Shallow Grave (1994), [5] he was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for playing Nicky Hutchinson in the BBC Two television drama Our Friends in the North (1996). [6] [7] He also starred in Jimmy McGovern's television film Hillsborough (1996). [8]
Eccleston subsequently appeared in a wide variety of British and American films, such as Michael Winterbottom's Jude (1996) and 24 Hour Party People (2002), Boyle's 28 Days Later (2002), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) and Revengers Tragedy (2002). [9] Eccleston played the lead role in Hamlet at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in 2002. [10] He received a second BAFTA nomination for playing Stephen Baxter, a Mancunian everyman who learns he is the son of God, in the ITV television drama serial The Second Coming (2003). [11] [12]
Eccleston found international popularity with his lead role as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who (2005). [1] He was nominated for a Broadcasting Press Guild Award [13] and a BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actor, [14] and was voted Most Popular Actor at the National Television Awards. [15] [16] He left the role after one series, and since 2021 has reprised the role in a series of licensed audio dramas for Big Finish Productions. [17] [18] Eccleston won an International Emmy Award for starring in a 2010 episode of McGovern's anthology drama Accused. [19] [20] He played villainous roles in the action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) [21] [22] and the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film Thor: The Dark World (2013). [23]
He starred as Matt Jamison on the HBO drama series The Leftovers (2014–2017), [24] [25] earning two consecutive nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the Critics' Choice Television Awards. [26] [27] He was nominated for an International Emmy Award for Best Actor for his role in the television miniseries Come Home (2018). [28] [29] Eccleston played the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Macbeth in 2018. [30] From 2016 to 2020, he played Maurice Scott in the drama series The A Word . [31] [32] Since 2022, he played Fagin in the BBC family comedy drama series Dodger . [33] [34]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Blood Rights | Dick | TV film | [58] [3] [ better source needed ] |
| Casualty | Stephen Hills | Episode: " A Reasonable Man" | [59] | |
| 1991 | Inspector Morse | Terrence Mitchell | Episode: "Second Time Around" | [60] [59] |
| Chancer | Radio | Episode: "Jo" | [59] | |
| Boon | Mark | Episode: "Cover Up" | ||
| 1992 | Rachel's Dream | Man in Dream | Channel 4's Video Fantasies series | [59] |
| Poirot | Frank Carter | Episode: "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" | ||
| Friday on my Mind | Sean Maddox | 3 episodes | [59] | |
| Business with Friends | Angel Morris | TV film | [61] | |
| 1993–1994 | Cracker | DCI David Bilborough | 10 episodes | [3] |
| 1995 | Hearts and Minds | Drew Mackenzie | 4 episodes | [59] |
| 1996 | Our Friends in the North | Nicky Hutchinson | 9 episodes | |
| Hillsborough | Trevor Hicks | TV film | [10] | |
| 2000 | Wilderness Men | Alexander von Humboldt | 3 episodes | [59] [ better source needed ] |
| Clocking Off | Jim Calvert | 2 episodes | [59] | |
| 2001 | Strumpet | Strayman | TV film | [62] |
| Linda Green | Tom Sherry / Neil Sherry | Episode: "Twins" | [59] | |
| Othello | Ben Jago | TV film | [63] | |
| 2002 | The League of Gentlemen | Dougal Siepp | Episode: "How the Elephant Got Its Trunk" | [59] |
| Flesh and Blood | Joe Broughton | TV film | ||
| The King and Us | Anthony | Waiting for the Whistle series | ||
| Sunday | General Ford | TV film | ||
| 2003 | The Second Coming | Stephen Baxter | 2 episodes | [64] |
| 2005 | Doctor Who | Ninth Doctor | Series 1; 13 episodes | [65] [59] |
| 2006 | Perfect Parents | Stuart | TV film | [66] [67] |
| 2007 | Heroes | Claude | 5 episodes | [68] [19] [ better source needed ] |
| 2008 | The Sarah Silverman Program | Dr. Lazer Rage | Episode: "I Thought My Dad Was Dead, But It Turns Out He's Not" | [69] |
| 2010 | Lennon Naked | John Lennon | TV film | [70] |
| Accused | Willy Houlihan | Episode: "Willy's Story" | [46] [71] [19] | |
| 2011 | The Shadow Line | Joseph Bede | All 7 episodes | [72] |
| The Borrowers | Pod Clock | TV film | [73] | |
| 2012 | Blackout | Daniel Demoys | 3 episodes | [74] [75] |
| 2013 | Lucan | John Aspinall | 2 episodes | [76] |
| 2014–2017 | The Leftovers | Matt Jamison | Main role | [24] [25] [77] [78] |
| 2015 | Fortitude | Charlie Stoddart | 3 episodes | [79] [80] [81] [ better source needed ] |
| Safe House | Robert | 4 episodes | [82] [83] [84] [ better source needed ] | |
| Brian Pern Indie Special | Luke Dunmore | [85] | ||
| 2016 | Brian Pern: 45 Years of Prog and Roll | |||
| 2016–2020 | The A Word | Maurice Scott | Main role | [31] [32] [86] |
| 2017 | Brian Pern: A Tribute | Luke Dunmore | TV film | [87] |
| 2018 | Come Home | Greg | All 3 episodes | [28] |
| King Lear | Oswald | TV film | [88] | |
| Danger Mouse | J. Woolington Sham | Voice; Episode: "No More Mr Ice Guy" | [89] [90] | |
| 2020 | 2019: A Year in the Life of a Year | Himself | TV film | [91] [92] |
| The Kemps: All True | [93] | |||
| 2021 | Close to Me | Rob Harding | All 6 episodes | [94] [95] |
| 2022 | My Name is Leon | Devlin | TV film | [96] |
| Would I Lie to You? | Himself | Series 16 Xmas Special | [97] | |
| 2022–2023 | Dodger | Fagin | Main role | [98] [99] |
| 2023 | The Kemps: All Gold | Luke Dunmore | TV film | [100] |
| 2024 | True Detective | Captain Ted Connelly | Season 4 | [101] [102] |
| The Guilty Innocent | Himself | 2 episodes | [103] [104] | |
| TBA | Out of the Dust | Mr Phillips | Main Cast | [105] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Refs. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Pablo Gonzalez | Bristol Old Vic | [106] | |
| Dona Rosita the Spinster | |||||
| The Nephew | |||||
| 1990 | Bent | Lieutenant | Royal National Theatre | [8] [ better source needed ] | |
| Abingdon Square | Transferred from Soho Poly | [1] [8] [ better source needed ] | |||
| Aide-Memoire | Royal Court Theatre | [ citation needed ] | |||
| 1993 | Waiting at the Water's Edge | Will | Bush Theatre | [107] [ better source needed ] | |
| 2000 | Miss Julie | Jean | Haymarket Theatre | ||
| 2002 | Hamlet | Hamlet | West Yorkshire Playhouse | [10] [1] [11] | |
| 2004 | Electricity | Jakey | [108] [ better source needed ] | ||
| 2009 | A Doll's House | Neil Kelman | Donmar Warehouse | [11] [ better source needed ] | |
| 2012 | Antigone | Creon | Royal National Theatre | [109] | |
| 2018 | Macbeth | Macbeth | Royal Shakespeare Theatre | [ citation needed ] | |
| Barbican Theatre, London | |||||
| 2023 | NASSIM | Traverse Theatre | |||
| A Christmas Carol | Ebenezer Scrooge | The Old Vic | [110] | ||
| Year | Artist | Role | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Death and the Compass | Alonso Zunz | [111] [3] |
| 2000 | The Tyre | Salesman | [ citation needed ] |
| 2001 | This Little Piggy | Cabbie | |
| 2010 | The Happiness Salesman | Salesman | [112] [113] |
| 2025 | Whispers of Freedom | Herbert Köfer | [114] [115] |
| Year | Artist | Title | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | I Am Kloot | "Proof" | [116] [117] |
| 2010 | "Northern Skies" |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Room of Leaves | Frank | [ citation needed ] | |
| Pig Paradise | Jack | |||
| 2001 | Some Fantastic Place | Narrator | ||
| Bayeux Tapestry | Harold | |||
| 2002 | The Importance of Being Morrissey | Narrator | ||
| Iliad | Achilles | |||
| 2003 | Cromwell – Warts and All | Narrator | ||
| 2004 | Life Half Spent | Roger | ||
| 2005 | The Acting Class | Narrator | [118] | |
| Crossing the Dark Sea | Squaddie | |||
| Sacred Nation | Narrator | |||
| Born to be Different | Narrator | |||
| A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Brian | |||
| E=mc² (Einstein's Big Idea) | Narrator | |||
| Dubai Dreams | Narrator | |||
| Wanted: New Mum and Dad | Narrator | |||
| Children in Need | Narrator | |||
| This Sceptred Isle | Various Characters | |||
| 2005–2006 | The Dark Side of Porn | Narrator | Season 1–2; 9 Episodes | |
| 2006 | The 1970s: That Was The Decade That Was | Narrator | ||
| 2008 | The Devil's Christmas | Narrator | ||
| 2009 | Wounded | Narrator | ||
| 2011 | The Bomb Squad | Narrator | ||
| 2012 | Timeshift: Wrestling's Golden Age: Grapplers, Grunts & Grannies | Narrator | ||
| 2013 | Nineteen Eighty-Four | Protagonist | ||
| 2016 | The Last Miners | Narrator | 2 episodes | |
| 2017–present | Ambulance | Narrator | 44 episodes | |
| 2017 | Manchester: 100 Days After the Attack | Narrator | Television special | |
| 2019 | Cold Bath Street, a Lancashire ghost story by A.J. Hartley | Narrator | ||
| I Love the Bones of You: My Father And The Making Of Me | Narrator | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Refs. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–present | Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures | Ninth Doctor | Series 1–4; 37 episodes | [65] [ better source needed ] |
| 2023 | Doctor Who: Once and Future | Episode: "Time Lord Immemorial" | [119] |
| Year | Title | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | The Whisper Man | Audiobook (Narrator) | [ citation needed ] |
| I Love the Bones of You: My Father And The Making Of Me | Autobiography | [120] [121] |