Christopher Eccleston has spoken about his time on Doctor Who, insisting he is "always there in spirit".
The actor was quizzed about his one-series stint as the ninth Doctor during an interview on BBC Radio 4's Loose Ends programme, to promote new ITV thriller Safe House.
"I don't think it's important that I left - I think that it's important that I did it in the first place," he said. "I'm still there - I was in David Tennant, I was in Matt Smith, I was in Peter Capaldi. I'm always there in spirit."
Eccleston explained that he had originally volunteered himself for the role to showrunner Russell T Davies because he "wanted to try and learn a lighter way of being".
"I think I over-pitched the comedy," he admitted. "If I had my time again, I would do the comedy very differently - but I think where I did possibly succeed was in the tortured stuff - surprise surprise!"
Eccleston was replaced by David Tennant after just 13 episodes, with the actor explaining that he had "clashed" with "three individuals at the very top of the pyramid".
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In an interview with the Daily Record, he went into greater detail about the circumstances of his departure from the series.
"I'd had enough," he said. "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. It's very easy to stay in one job and make that your comfort zone, and I want to resist that temptation."
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