Christopher Eccleston makes holding still look like hard work. He is particularly good in patient television drama, with time for a character to change and other actors to keep the solemnity in check.
Fi1m perspective
In Our Friends in the North (1996), Christopher Eccleston makes standing still seem strenuous. His Nicky Hutchinson gives the drama much of its urgency, as though keeping quiet requires a decision and then the effort to stick to it. We found that restraint moving, because he makes the pauses look difficult to endure. We rate him particularly highly in a part like this, where the writing gives that tension time to develop and does not demand an outburst at every opportunity.
The early parts established his forceful presence: Derek Bentley in Let Him Have It (1991), then DCI David Bilborough in Cracker (1993). Work with writer Jimmy McGovern, including Hillsborough (1996), suited an actor repeatedly drawn to angry, conflicted men. Doctor Who (2005) offered a different setting for his grounded presence and northern accent. His one series as the Ninth Doctor is a useful reminder that those qualities need not belong only to social realism.
The value of giving him time is plain in Our Friends in the North, which follows Nicky from 19 to 50. Peter Flannery sometimes rushes the wider history, but his domestic scenes let Eccleston work alongside actors who approach the material differently. Mark Strong, as Terry ‘Tosker’ Cox, brings a directness that keeps their exchanges from becoming solemn discussions. Daniel Craig’s Geordie is harder to read, and the contrast helps us notice how much effort Nicky expends. Eccleston’s intensity benefits from that variety around it; a whole cast at the same pitch would be wearing.
The Leftovers (2014–17), in which he plays Matt Jamison, and The A Word (2016–20) continued his substantial television work. There is plenty to explore, but we would start with the long stretch of a life he gets to play as Nicky. Allow Our Friends in the North its length; Eccleston makes the quiet stretches worth staying for.
Biography
Christopher Eccleston is an English actor. Born on 16 February 1964 in Salford, he trained at Salford Tech and the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He made his professional stage debut in 1989 and his screen debut in the 1990 serial Blood Rights.
Eccleston first rose to prominence as Derek Bentley in the film Let Him Have It (1991). He gained wider recognition in the UK for his role as DCI Bilborough in the series Cracker (1993–1994) and as Nicky Hutchinson in the series Our Friends in the North (1996), for which he received a British Academy Television Award nomination for Best Actor.
He has appeared in films including Shallow Grave (1994), 28 Days Later (2002) and Thor: The Dark World (2013). In 2005 he played the Ninth Doctor in the series Doctor Who. His stage work includes title roles in productions of Hamlet and Macbeth.
