Christopher Eccleston pulls out of ITV hit drama Safe House and now co-stars face axe
Broadcaster considered scrapping Lake District drama but instead will re-shoot in Wales with new cast
CHRISTOPHER Eccleston has pulled out from hit drama Safe House delaying the second series and costing his co-stars their jobs.
The ITV thriller first aired in April 2015 and was a huge hit for the channel and leading man Christopher, 52, who played former copper Robert who was charged with protecting a vulnerable family from a serial killer in his Lake District guest house.
Earlier this year, ITV trumpeted the return of the dark thriller, and announced the return of stars Christopher, Marsha Thomason and Paterson Joseph.
Marsha played his wife Katy, and Paterson played DCI Mark Maxwell, who went on the run at the end of series one.
Filming started in February with a huge team of cast and crew sent on location at the Lake District.
However, former Doctor Who Eccleston was axed had to pull out after just weeks of filming and ITV bosses have ordered a complete rewrite of the show and are currently searching for a completely new cast.
The expensive rewrite has cost Marsha and Paterson their jobs on the hit series.
Bosses also had to start from scratch on locations and the new series will now be set in Wales.
A source said: “Chris disappeared from filming and ITV won’t say why. It was a nightmare because the whole series had to be rewritten and new locations had to be found in Wales.
“At one stage it looked like it might get canned completely but the show was a huge hit the first time round and no one wanted to do that.
“However, the rewrite has meant that most of the cast has lost their jobs. It was an awful situation.”
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The complete rewrite has delayed the project for months, meaning it’s now unlikely to air until next year – almost two years after the first series which averaged 6.5m viewers.
Filming is expected to start again from scratch later in the year.
A spokeswoman for ITV said: “Due to circumstances which led to filming being delayed, the second series is now being filmed with new lead characters and features a new Safe House.”
In December last year, Chris divorced his wife Mischka, who was 20 years his junior, over her “unreasonable behaviour” after four years of marriage.