Christopher Eccleston verdict on Billie Piper as Doctor Who

The Little Hulton actor’s first major role came in the early 1990s, with his breakout performance in Let Him Have It.

He followed this up with the popular BBC drama Our Friends in the North, starring alongside Daniel Craig, Gina McKee, and Mark Strong.

The 62-year-old has also featured in multiple films, including Shallow Grave, 28 Days Later and Thor: The Dark World.

But Chris is perhaps best known and beloved by fans across the world for his iconic turn as the Doctor in the BBC’s Doctor Who.

Playing the ninth incarnation of the Time Lord, he helped relaunch the sci-fi series in 2005 after ‘the wilderness years’.

Christopher Eccleston. (Image: Jeff Moore / PA)

Bringing a modernised show which had new generations hiding behind the sofa, Chris starred opposite Billie Piper, who played companion, Rose Tyler.

Hopping in the Tardis and fast-forwarding to the present, he was at the Oxford Literary Festival last weekend.

Sitting down opposite fellow actor Paterson Joseph, the pair discussed their lives and careers at Oxford University’s Sheldonian Theatre.

The 61-year-old, who has been the Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University for more than three years, is known for his roles in Wonka, Peep Show and Julius Caesar.

Both actors have written books, with I Love the Bones of You by Chris, and Mr Joseph’s award-winning The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho.

Following their conversation and some questions from the crowd, the pair departed the historic venue to rapturous applause.

Paterson Joseph and Christopher Eccleston at the Sheldonian Theatre. (Image: Newsquest)

Speaking to our sister title, The Oxford Mail, he said: “Give it to Billie! Yeah, why not? Why not.”

 While appearing at the Fan Expo convention in 2022, he had said: “I was saying to somebody today in the green room that Russell T Davies is coming back, right, and who’s going to be his Doctor?

 “I think it should be Billie Piper, actually. Catherine Tate’s great, but I think there’s your Doctor.

 “And I’d like to see you all struggle with it. ‘How can she be the Doctor when she was an assistant?!’

 “I like the idea of it blowing fuses in the canon, or whatever it’s called.”

Christopher Eccleston. (Image: PA)

Then last year, Ncuti’s Fifteenth Doctor regenerated into an incarnation played by Ms Piper, realising Chris’ own idea. 

When asked if he really was a Time Lord after making the correct prediction, the actor laughed and joked: “Exactly, I’m a prophet!” 

He made his comments at the Oxford Literary Festival last weekend.

Christopher Eccleston and Oxford Mail reporter Ed Burnett. (Image: Newsquest)

 Christopher said:  “The irony of Oxford and Cambridge, of course, is that all these working-class men made this beauty, and a lot of them dreamt to be scholars themselves.”

 Speaking about appearing at Oxford Literary Festival 2026, Chris added: “My dad would be very proud that I’ve been asked to speak at a literary festival because my family were all voracious readers.

 “Books are the gateway, that’s what I’d say to any young person – if you’re in trouble, and you don’t know anything, it will be in a book.

 “So if I can support a literary festival, I’ll be there.”

Christopher Eccleston. (Image: PA)

 Having already penned his autobiographical book about his relationship with his father, Ronnie, Chris revealed that he’s keen to write again. 

“Yes, I would like to write, but I think writing certainly within my industry is the hardest thing to do,” he said. 

“I think it’s the most ignored and the most malign, and that’s deeply ironic because they’re the most important people in our industry, writers. 

“So yes, I’d very much like to write again, but I don’t seem to have the discipline, especially with being alone with your thoughts for so long. 

“Most of the writers I know working in television and film are lunatics because as soon as there’s a wrap party or a drink, they’re there because they spend so much time alone. 

“But I should try more, and I really admire what Paterson’s done.”

Christopher Eccleston. (Image: PA)

In recent months, he has fronted a high‑profile campaign calling for a ban on gambling advertising, working with the Coalition to End Gambling Ads. 

A short film titled Stacking the Deck is available to watch on YouTube, and Chris spoofs the style of glossy betting commercials. 

Criticising gambling ads, he has urged the government to curb promotions which are helping to destroy lives.

 “We’ve addressed the advertising of alcohol, and we’ve addressed the advertising of tobacco, but we are not accepting that gambling is an addiction,” said Chris. 

“It’s a disease. These gambling companies are making absolute fortunes, and they’ve got the government in their pocket. 

“The government needs to clean that up, and I think the public would respect whichever government was in power if they said we’re going to take a lot of your money off you. 

“People are committing suicide. I’ve interviewed a woman who lost her husband, and her two children have lost their father because of his addiction, which destroyed the family’s finances. 

“It’s being encouraged as you only need to have a mobile phone and you’re targeted. So it’s a moral question for me. 

“Children are seeing these things. When you’re watching Premier League football, there are constant advertisements by people who should know better. 

“It’s going in subliminally, and it’s rooting. It’s a huge addiction. So we start with the same strictures applied to the advertising of alcohol and tobacco.”

Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston as Rose Tyler and the Doctor. (Image: BBC / PA)

Moving on to music, Chris is known to be a big fan of The Smiths from his native Manchester, but the actor opened up on what else he likes to listen to.

 “I like Black Grape, Happy Mondays, Joy Division, New Order, but really I’m a soul boy. 

“The Smiths are an outlier for me. I was born in 1964, and I heard all the great Motown stacks, all of funk, hearing black American music made me realise that America is a country built on racial discrimination. 

”It made me look at America in a very different way. It was really important in my education about racism, and also, you could dance to it. 

“Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Donny Hathaway, Curtis Mayfield, Betty Wright, people like that. 

“At the same time, I was listening to all the Jamaican reggae and ska, but it’s that interesting thing that white guys of my generation, even the skinheads, were listening to black music. 

“That’s what music’s supposed to do, to bring people together. So yeah, I’m a soul boy.”

You can catch Chris next in the new psychological thriller miniseries Unchosen, which premieres on Netflix on Tuesday, April 21.