Speaking to SFX magazine in the new issue, out next week, Moffat revealed: “I had an initial contact with Chris [Eccleston] and, in a very amiable and gentlemanly way, he didn’t feel that he could come back to [Doctor Who].”

He added: “There wasn’t any big fuss about it – I had a couple of meetings with him, and he was perfectly pleasant, and indeed quite enthused about the show, but he just doesn’t do that, it’s just not him.”

Eccleston will next be seen as villain Malekith in Marvel’s upcoming Thor sequel, Thor: The Dark World, released in UK cinemas on Wednesday 30 October.

‘The Day of the Doctor’ will air on Saturday 23 November simultaneously across six continents and at least 75 countries at the same time as the UK broadcast on BBC One.

> Find out all the latest info on ‘The Day of the Doctor’ in our news summary.

[Source: Doctor Who TV]

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