Christopher Eccleston regrets quitting ‘Doctor Who’.
The 52-year-old actor portrayed the titular Time Lord for just one series when the show was revived in 2005, and now wishes he had played the character for longer because he would’ve done a better job in a second series.
He said: "It was kind of tragic for me, that I didn’t play him for longer. He’s a beautiful character and I have a great deal of professional pride and had I done a second season, there would have been a marked improvement in my performance."
As well as being a great part to play, Christopher admits he was learning on the job while he was portraying the Time Lord.
Speaking to radio show Drive on Melbourne’s 774 ABC, he added: "I was learning new skills, in terms of playing light comedy. I was not known for light comedy and, again, production did not allow for that."
Last year, Christopher admitted he departed the sci-programme because he’d "had enough" of the part and disagreed with show bosses about how the Doctor should be played.
He said: "I’d had enough. I wanted to do it my way, they wanted something else. We were never going to compromise, so it was best to be straight about it and just go."
‘Doctor Who’ showrunner Steven Moffat was keen for Christopher to reprise his role as the Ninth Doctor in the 50th anniversary special in November 2013, and wrote the part with the star in mind, despite admitting he felt the actor would reject the opportunity to return to the show.
He previously said: "I knew that Chris was almost certainly going to say no. I met him a couple of times and he was absolutely lovely.
"He met with me because he didn’t want to say no through his agent or a phone call or email. He wanted to do it personally. And I three-quarters talked him into it.
"So I started a version of it but I got to a point where I could go no further unless it was going to be him. I went for another meeting with him and he decided no.
"His reasons are his business and he’s a very private man. But it’s reasonable to say he really cares about ‘Doctor Who’."
As a result of Christopher giving the 50th anniversary a miss, John Hurt’s War Doctor transformed into the Ninth Time Lord during the final scenes in the episode.
Christopher Eccleston regrets quitting Doctor Who
