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Doctor Who: Eccleston on TV People Believing "The Audience Is Stupid"

Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who) isn't thrilled with what's going on with TV: "a lot of people in television think the audience is stupid."

Published Thu, 16 Apr 2026 07:37:09 -0500

by Ray Flook

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After spending yesterday getting slightly depressed while covering the BBC's plans to cut up to 2,000 jobs over the next two years, and what that could mean for the long-running series from a funding standpoint, we're more than happy to focus on pretty much any other corner of the "Whoniverse." Thankfully, we have fine folks such as Christopher Eccleston, aka the Ninth Doctor, around to offer their open and honest perspectives on a wide range of issues. For this go-around, Eccleston is sharing his thoughts on the current state of television with Radio Times while promoting Netflix's Unchosen, saying, "A lot of people in television think the audience is stupid."

"Historically, there would be programs that I watched when I was young where I would feel patronized — 'Love Thy Neighbour' or whatever — but there was a lot where I felt I was being respected. The likes of the 'Plays for Today' and 'The Naked Civil Servant,'" Eccleston noted. But with the erosion of the writer's culture to almost writing by committee, I've heard stories about some of the idiotic – and sometimes downright hateful – assumptions about the audience's intelligence today. A lot of people in television think the audience is stupid." As Eccleston sees it, it all comes down to smart writing. "If it's a brilliant performance, it's for one reason and one reason only: the writing," he added. "State-of-the-nation dramas are possible — look at the success of Adolescence — but I don't think we have those visionary, politicized, poetic people who want to make them now."

Doctor Who: Eccleston on Sixteenth Doctor: "Give It to Billie" Piper

Just to be clear? Eccleston was down with Billie Piper being the Doctor long before it became the cool thing to debate after the final moments of "The Reality War" hit our screens. "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," Eccleston shared during a fan event… in 2022.

Now, we get to flash ahead four years, with fans anxiously awaiting word on whether Showrunner Russell T. Davies's upcoming Doctor Who Christmas Special will address the matter. The topic of Piper as the Sixteenth Doctor was addressed again by Eccleston during a special session at the Oxford Literary Festival at the end of March. During a conversation with actor Paterson Joseph, Eccleston was asked whether he really was a "Time Lord," given how he made the call years earlier. "Exactly, I'm a prophet!" joked Ecclestion, laughing. But when it comes to Piper taking on the role he once held (and still returns to for Big Finish's audio dramas), Eccleston's support hasn't wavered: "Give it to Billie! Yeah, why not? Why not?"

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