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Christopher Eccleston had the enviable but daunting task of portraying the first of the modern day Doctor Whos.  (Doctors Who?) The classic British series had been off the air for 15 years and Eccleston was chosen to embody the Doctor for a new generation, under the guidance of Russell T. Davies.

Unfortunately, Eccleston and executives butted heads over the creative direction of the show and of Eccleston’s performance and he exited ‘Doctor Who’ after just a single season.  Over the years, sadly, Eccleston has continued to discuss the negative experience he had working on the show, essentially crushing any hopes of seeing him return to the show in any form.  In fact, in 2013, Eccleston refused to return for the ‘Day of the Doctor’ special anniversary episode, despite it being written especially to showcase his Ninth Doctor.  (Instead, the episode introduced John Hurt as The War Doctor.)

But perhaps the first time, Eccleston seems to be expressing remorse over leaving the show.  He provided an interview for radio show Drive on Melbourne’s 774 ABC and declared:

“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. 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.”

Perhaps time heals all wounds.  Could Eccleston be tempted back?  After all, the Ninth Doctor is one of the least explored due to his brief 13-episode stint.

Eccleston has worked steadily since leaving the hit BBC series.  He played Destro in ‘GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra’ and Malekith in ‘Thor: The Dark World’.  He has worked consistently on television, most recently in sci fi series ‘The Leftovers’, co-created by Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta.

Would you like to see Eccleston make a return appearance on the series that first made him famous, though?

Source: RadioTimes