BBC blacklisted me for quitting Doctor Who

CHRISTOPHER Eccleston has claimed the BBC ‘blacklisted’ him and tried to ruin his career when he quit Doctor Who after one series.

The 54- year- old actor (pictured) said he was ‘abandoned’ after leaving his role as the Time Lord in 2005, and his agent advised him to relocate to the US because the BBC ‘regime’ was against him.

Despite having since appeared in primetime dramas for the corporation, Eccleston 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.’

The actor, who will play Macbeth for the Royal Shakespeare Company from today, added: ‘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.’