TIM OGLETHORPE finds out that family is the key to Christopher Eccleston's successful career.

CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON developed such a bond with two of the co-stars of his latest TV drama that he now includes 
them in his circle of friends. The fact that they are both 20 years older than him and mentally disabled is simply 
not an issue. Pete Kirby and Dorothy Cockin were chosen to star in BBC2's Flesh And Blood after a search in the north of 
England to find disabled people capable of playing the natural parents of Eccleston's character, Joe. Both make their 
TV debuts in the drama, which concerns the attempts of fully-abled 
Joe to track down parents who had to give him up at birth. ", struck up a great rapport with Pete and 
Dorothy and loved working with them. Pete and  I have been out to dinner and to the movies," says the 38-year- old, star 
of TV dramas such as Our Friends In The North. "I've also become patron of Dorothy's theatre company, Celebrity Pig." 
Eccleston says that on set the couple seemed to change the attitudes of those around them. "People on set behaved in a more 
generous way," he explains. "They were that bit more patient, that bit more understanding. Filming was dictated, to a certain 
extent, by Pete and Dorothy's limitations - it all took more time. But whereas you usually find those Who are not involved in 
a scene will read a newspaper, this time everybody was craning their necks to see how Pete and Dorothy were doing." 
Eccleston thinks Flesh And Blood has a lot to say about our attitudes towards disabled people and also about how adopted people 
struggle to find their identities. "I couldn't be further removed from Joe," he says. "I come from a very close family. But, in a 
way, that helped me with the part. I just imagined what life would be like without my parents." One of three brothers, he says the 
example set by his parents, Ronnie and Elsie, plays a big part in his career. "They brought me up to treat people with respect, 
whether they are able-bodied or disabled, and that has bled into my work. You've got to treat audiences with respect and, as far 
as I'm concerned, that means not doing the kind of TV that talks down to them. "Mum did a number of jobs, dad worked at a factory and 
they both prided themselves on doing what they did well. They taught me to try to do likewise." Eccleston is very intense and 
passionate about his work but, thankfully, not averse to stories at his own expense. He fully accepts that a recent foray into 
the world of big league cinema was not quite the success that he'd hoped for. "Both Gone In 60 Seconds, with Nicolas Cage, and 
Invisible Circus, with Cameron Diaz, were mistakes. One critic said I was as frightening as a dead fish in Gone In 60 Seconds and, 
sadly, they were right." 

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2nd F&B interview:

What is Flesh And Blood about? 

I play Joe Broughton, who is a very balanced individual whose adoptive parents have cared for him and he's got loyal friends 
and a wonderful wife. But the minute his wife Cath gives birth to their daughter he feels so much love for the baby that he 
wants to find out why his birth parents didn't feel the same way about him. Personally, I've got a very strong sense of who I 
am - my parents are very loving and I thought it would be really interesting to play someone who didn't have that. 

What happens when Joe discovers his real parents? 

He finds out that they both have learning disabilities and that they met when they were patients at a mental hospital. Finding 
out that these people are his parents blows joe's world apart. 

Joe's parents are played by Dorothy Cockin and Peter Kirby, who have learning disabilities themselves. Were you worried about 
working with them? 

Not at all. I thought that to start worrying about my own performance, or the end product, would have been disgusting, really, 
because the writer, Peter Bowker, had the desire to tell this tale admirably included people who are traditionally sidelined. I 
was very excited at working with people who were non-actors. 

When did you first meet the actor who plays Joe's dad? 

We met at the social club he goes to. In walks this fella with a baseball cap on back to front, holding a pool cue. We were introduced 
and he went off to play pool. I didn't push it, I felt we'd have enough time to get to know each other later. About 90 per cent of what 
I say in the drama is scripted, the rest is improvised conversations with Peter and Dorothy, which was great. I'm 38 now and you can get 
a bit jaded when you've been acting for so long. It was a challenge I got a lot out of. I spent a lot of time with Peter especially and 
I really feel that we made a connection. 

Does Flesh And Blood have an upbeat ending? 

Well, it's not exactly your textbook happy ending where Joe's dad puts his arm around him and says, 'I love you son, and I'm sorry;' and 
his mum can't do that either. But Joe does realise what he's got and he realises that his mum and dad have been heroic in their own way. 

You're known to be quite picky about the projects you work on. 

I do look tor projects that have quality and I guard that jealously. It was television that made me want to be an actor, great things like 
Play For Today, and a lot of TV is so disposable nowadays, which is a pity. 

You've had a lot of jobs - including Flesh And Blood - that involve working near your home in Manchester. That must be great. 

It's nice to be able to finish filming and go home rather than stay in a hotel. I loved iving in London when I was a drama student, but 
eventually I got a bit tired of it. I was born and bred in Salford and, once I'd got myself a bit more established I moved back to the 
North-west. It's also nice to be away from the centre of the acting business. I'm not an actor who feels they need to be at all the right 
parties or splashed over glossy magazines. 

So what are you up to next? 

It's another TV job written by Russell T Davies who wrote Queer As Folk. It's called The Second Coming and I play Jesus. I promise I haven't 
let the role go to my head! 

Clair Woodward