12 Actors Who Want To Return To Doctor Who

For well over a decade, the narrative surrounding a potential Doctor Who return for Christopher Eccleston is that he wouldn't do it in a million years, primarily due to the poor experience he had while making his sole series in the mid-2000s.

And while it's certainly true that he has problems with the way the show was ran during his brief tenure, the actor does seem to have softened on Doctor Who in recent years, and has even opened himself up to a potential onscreen return.

Many fans thought they'd never see Eccleston return to play the Ninth Doctor, in any capacity. And yet, in 2020, it was announced that he'd be reprising the role for a series of Big Finish audio dramas, a clear sign that he wasn't totally averse to dipping his feet in Whoniverse waters.

More recently, he's gone one step further, indicating that he'd even be down for a proper, onscreen return - just as long as it's not in a multi-Doctor special:

"The Ninth Doctor, in particular, is a one-man band, definitely. So, he doesn’t work with other Doctors. If you want me back, you get me on my own."

While Eccleston's rocky history with Doctor Who does make it feel unlikely that we'll ever see him pick up the sonic screwdriver once again, the chances of that happening have certainly increased in recent years.