Doctor Who thing of the day: wait! Christopher Eccleston has more to do with the Doctor?

Interesting tidbit via fan BadGirlSeeksGoodMan, posting at the members-only forum Gallifrey Base:

I was at the National Theatre yesterday where Chris Eccleston was doing a Q and A session (he's currently playing Creon in Antigone at the National).

There is no mention of Who in the blurb for the session nor in the play programme so I was wondering if anyone would be brave enough to ask him about it. Of course they did! Prior to the subject of Doctor Who he had spoken quite candidly about the role of writers and directors and how production should be a collaboration between directors and actors. He clearly stated that he thinks the writer has the most important job to do.

There was palpable tension when the first Who question came up but he had absolutely nothing negative to say. He didn't directly criticise any aspect of the production.

I was surprised how easily he took the questions and he very graciously thanked people who complimented him on his performance in Doctor Who. He also spoke with real warmth and enthusiasm about the character of the Doctor and what a real joy of a character it is to play. In response to a question about whether he felt he'd taken the character as far as he could he (very tellingly) said he felt that one series isn't enough to get under the skin of the character and that if he'd had two or three series he'd have developed the role considerably. He said that if you looked at the other Doctors (with the exception of Tom Baker) you can see them working out how to play the character through their first series because it's such a complex and challenging role. He said several times that there was more for him to do with the character....

50th anniversary multi-doctor episode anyone?

I know, I know-not going to happen but I was heartened by how warmly he talked about the character.