Eccleston goes from Time Lord to drug lord

FORMER Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston has gone from Time Lord to drug lord for a tense new BBC thriller, it was announced yesterday.

The actor - recently seen as John Lennon for BBC biopic Lennon Naked - is among the stars for complex six-part series The Shadow Line. The major series, to be screened by BBC2 next year, examines the impact of the death of underworld figure Jay Wratten (Rafe Spall) on a range of figures.

Other leading names who will star in the conspiracy drama include American Gangster actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, Sir Antony Sher and Stephen Rea.

Eccleston stars as a drug lord who risks everything in a final make-or-break deal in the tale of a web of interlocked lives.