Christopher Eccleston has said that he cannot envisage reprising the role of The Doctor on Doctor Who on TV in the future.
The actor took on the iconic part when the show was rebooted in 2005 but left under acrimonious circumstances after just one year.
Eccleston suffered a fallout with showrunner Russell T Davies during production of the series, then became angry with the BBC when they announced his departure without warning and attributed a fictitious quote to him in the press release.
Despite having just 13 episodes in the role, Eccleston's Doctor remains one of the most acclaimed in the show's history and earlier this year he finally agreed to return to the part - but only for audio stories for the Big Finish company.
Asked at Dragon Con if that opened the door for a TV return in the near future, he said that it was "doubtful" as his "relationship with the BBC over Doctor Who has not healed".
In quotes carried by the Radio Times, he explained: "I think it's fair to say... that the first series nobody knows what they're doing and the politics are raging. The shooting of the first series was a nightmare.
"I agreed with Russell that I would go, quietly and respectfully, and I would look after the show publicity-wise, in terms of publicising it.
"And then, without saying anything to me, they announced that I was leaving. They didn't tell me they were going to do that. I was walking down the street and suddenly I got quite a lot of aggression.
"And more importantly... they created a quote, and they attributed it to me, which said I was tired. Now the thing is about that, 'Oh I found it too tiring', I didn't find it too tiring. I found it too tiring working with Russell, and Phil [Collinson] and Julie [Gardner]. I didn't find it physically too tiring."
He added: "So they issued a kind of apology, but it's not enough, so no."
Eccleston's comments come as the show prepares to celebrate its landmark 60th birthday in 2023.
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