‘Rose Tyler. I was going to take you to so many places….’ – Christopher Eccleston Regrets Leaving Doctor Who

Christopher Eccleston is known among Whovians for being famously negative about his experience playing the ninth Doctor in Doctor Who’s first series since the 1996 TV Movie  – so it perhaps comes as a surprise to many that he now regrets leaving the show.

Speaking to Raf Epstein on 774 ABC Melbourne radio show Drive in Australia, Christopher Eccleston revealed ‘There’s always regret when you play a role like that, because what you do is you – I watched it back and I thought, OK, next time don’t do this, do that, you know, calibrate the performance. It was kind of tragic for me that I didn’t play him for longer, because you know, he’s a beautiful character and I have a great deal of professional pride [in it] and had I done a second season, there would’ve been a marked improvement in my performance. I was learning new skills in terms of playing light comedy, etc, etc. I was not known for light comedy, and again production did not allow for that. It’s very important on the first series that you make a very informed and intelligent choice – even if it means breaking the budget – about getting the first director who is going to set the tone for the season, for the way the actors relate, and that did not happen. Disaster. But the show has survived. Thank God. And Capaldi, and Matt, and David – are just brilliant. And I know how brilliant they are, because I’ve been inside it.’

Christopher Eccleston is the second shortest-lived Doctor, after only playing the role for one series. Paul McGann, meanwhile, only played the Doctor for a TV Movie and later reprised the role in the 2013 minisode Night of the Doctor. He has also recorded numerous audio dramas for Big Finish so it is possible that Christopher Eccleston could follow in his footsteps and star in some new audio adventures for the ninth Doctor.

It certainly seems a lot more likely that Christopher Eccleston could return to the role than it has done before. In 2011 when asked by Graham Norton on BBC Radio 2 whether he would return to the show Christopher Eccleston said ‘No. Nether bathe in the same river twice’. Recently however he has been confirmed to return for a second series of The A Word so it seems his principles have changed in regards to reprising past roles.

The first series of Doctor Who’s 2005 revival can be bought on DVD for £11.99 and Blu-ray at £24.99. It is worth noting however that the Blu-ray release is an upscale and therefore not true HD. This is because Series 1 wasn’t filmed using High-Definition cameras.