I LOVE THE BONES OF YOU

book CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON | SIMON & SCHUSTER

It wasn’t an easy position to occupy,” writes Christopher Eccleston in his memoir, reflecting on his refusal to simplify Derek Bentley’s character in 1991’s Let Him Have It.

Subtitled My Father And The Making Of Me, Eccleston’s memoir digs deep into the roots, rewards and risks of his fiercely upheld principles, framing a passionate counter to acting’s class bias in a self-portrait as commanding and committed as his stage and screen performances.

In other words, don’t expect gossip from his troubled TARDIS tenure. Instead of dishing the dirt, Eccleston takes heartening pride in how a working-class Salford bloke became a Time Lord, in keeping with his incisive insights into the shaping forces of class, gender and family elsewhere. His father – ‘Ronnie Ecc’ - pops out of Eccleston’s taut, evocative prose as a man of untapped potential, suppressed by class. Later, as Ronnie struggles with dementia, Eccleston depicts the condition with compassion and complexity.

He’s equally, powerfully open on his own struggles – anorexia, clinical depression. But he’s also sharp on the types of stories he admires, his insights into Hillsborough, Jude and others brimming with fervour. Along the way, Eccleston’s warmly wry line in selfdeprecation endears deeply, as does his refusal to rely on his tentpole gigs to court readers. Malekith? Barely mentioned. MCU insights might have been an easy way to grab headlines, but Eccleston here turns doing things the hard way into an honest-togoodness success. Kevin Harley