Matt Smith has opened up about crossing paths with fellow Doctor Who legend Christopher Eccleston.
The actors – who played the Eleventh and Ninth Time Lord respectively – have never shared an on-screen appearance in the sci-fi series, with Eccleston having famously ruled out returning to the show for multi-Doctor storylines, such as the 50th anniversary special.
But speaking recently on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, Smith revealed that the pair have had some Doctor-to-Doctor interactions in real life.
He said: “Get this right, true story. Chris Eccleston used to, I hope he doesn’t mind me telling you this, but basically we used to pass each other you know in this block of flats.”
He continued: “And um, you know, he was sort of going to one flat and I was going to another and we just passed each other in the morning, and go, ‘Morning Doctor,’ ‘Morning Doctor.'”
While Eccleston has repeatedly ruled out a return to Doctor Who, earlier this year he revealed that he would be open to reprising his role – but on one very specific condition.
Speaking on a C2E2 2026 spotlight panel back in March, Eccleston was asked whether, given that former Doctor David Tennant had recently reprised his role, he’d ever make a reappearance in the Whoniverse.
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“Here’s the thing: Doctor Who’s written by boys,” he responded. “There has never been a female showrunner of Doctor Who.”
He added: “So my dream is this: there was a little girl who was, I don’t know — six, seven, eight — in 2005 when my series went out, and she gets the job, and she asked me back? I’d go back like a shot.”
The BBC recently announced that Doctor Who would be put out to tender and the scheduled 2026 Christmas special would be subsequently cancelled.
This announcement came alongside the news that Russell T Davies and Bad Wolf Productions would also be departing the show.
Read more:
- Doctor Who star responds to calls for her to return as the next permanent Doctor
- Peter Capaldi reveals his Doctor Who exit was due to “direction” concerns and argues there have been “too many regenerations”
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
