Thanks and so long....

[ms_sardonicus]

Open Letter to the Doctor Who fandom:

Dear Doctor Who fandom:

I’m done with you.  I’ve been a fan of the show for over 30 years and I’ve never seen the amount of hate speech about one actor over the course of 24 hours than you have posted about Christopher Eccleston.  You should be ashamed of yourselves.  All your talk

Comments

[jer832]

In one of his self- videos in his first season on DW, David Tennant made comments that echoed CE's about the shooting schedule, uncomfortable physical and living conditions, and getting the scripts late. DW has always been the poor stepchild of the BBC, and people involved with the shows complained.

Actors in GB often took jobs in the US - even commercials - to be able to make a living. It's great to be in THE Shakespeare capital and be THE Hamlet (I'm talking Olivier, by the way), but to be forced to do US commercials with the agreement that your countrymen will never know must have made one of our greatest actors sick to his stomach.

I certainly don't need to tell anyone who reads this journal (at least I hope) what McGoohan went through to get the Prisoner made, and while I only vaguely remember the disgusting aftermath (thank you BBC and GB), ms_sardonicus and others know in intimate and infuriating detail what the creator/actor/writer of a series that rivals if not equals Twilight Zone had to go through. And, by the way - for those who haven't seen The Prisoner, they were able to do a whole season without any inconsistency in plot or characterization - that means no plot holes, no mistakes needing fandom "fixits", no embarrassing shows like TGITFP or Weeping Angels you're supposed to keep your eyes on,, no wait that's close your eyes to, but wait... no giving your character an elaborate backstory that you ignore when it suits you and dump when it takes too much effort to follow through.

Where this is leading to is...

Bravo to Christoper Eccleston, one of our most talented serious actors, for having such firm conviction in the value and purity of his art, and the self-respect not to let the lure of money, bullying by the boss, the threat of being the subject of yellow journalism, or the gossip of a fickle and vilifying fandom force him to into a choice he knew was wrong ARTISTICALLY and would compromise his ethical standards.

For over five years Christopher Eccleston was hounded for "reasons", which were no one's business. He was too much a gentlemen and an artist to "dish" dirt. He finally made some statements about poor working conditions that only confirmed what other actors have hinted at, probably accidentally but -- think about this -- maybe not so accidentally after all.

What exactly should DW fans be angry about? Start to think, ladies and gentlemen.