He's currently on our screens as Maurice Scott in The A Word, but Christopher Eccleston is also known for his work in plenty of blockbuster films and as the first Doctor to appear in Doctor Who after the show was rebooted in 2005. Recently, however, the actor opened up about his previous struggle with anorexia, which he admitted was "raging within" him during his turn in the popular BBC sci-fi drama almost 15 years ago. Writing in his new autobiography, I Love the Bones of You, he opened up about his difficult experience on set.
Christopher opened up about his difficult time on the show
The book, which was obtained by the Mail on Sunday, reads: "Many times I've wanted to reveal that I'm a lifelong anorexic and dysmorphic. I never have. I always thought of it as a filthy secret, because I'm Northern, because I'm male and because I'm working-class. The illness is still there raging within me as the Doctor. People love the way I look in that series, but I was very ill. The reward for that illness was the part. And therein lies the perpetuation of the whole sorry situation."
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He admitted that he only sought help ten years later, adding: "I was in a state of extreme anxiety, convinced I was either going to die or I was going to kill myself. In my despair I reached for my phone and looked up a psychiatric hospital, I rang ahead, grabbed my bag and ran. I was 100 per cent sure I was in the last few weeks of my life."
Christopher left Doctor Who after one season
Previously speaking about quitting Doctor Who, Christopher told The Guardian: "What happened around Doctor Who almost destroyed my career. I gave them a hit show and I left with dignity and then they put me on a blacklist. I was carrying my own insecurities as it was something I had never done before and then I was abandoned, vilified in the tabloid press and blacklisted. I was told by my agent at the time, 'The BBC regime is against you. You're going to have to get out of the country and wait for regime change.' So I went away to America and I kept on working because that's what my parents instilled in me."
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