Eccleston 'grateful' for Dr Who fans

Christopher Eccleston feels ''hugely grateful'' to kids who like talk to him about his 'Doctor Who' career.

The 48-year-old actor left the BBC One show in controversial circumstances in 2005 after just one series of portraying the ninth Time Lord, but Christopher insists his ''conscience is completely clear'' following his departure from the sci-fi programme.

He said: ''My conscience is completely clear. I've lived my life, particularly my working life, on the basis that I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror about the way I behave. It wasn't a bold move, it was an entirely natural one.

''I'm hugely grateful to the children who to this day come up and talk to me about the show.''

Christopher - who was replaced by David Tennant on the sci-fi series - is now hoping to do more theatre work over the next 20 to 30 years because it was his main reason for training as an actor.

He added: ''I've neglected theatre. That's a shame. It's why I went to train as an actor. And for the next 20 or 30 years I'm going to do more and more of it. That's the plan. I'm determined!''