ACTOR Christopher Eccleston will be the new Doctor Who when the cult sci-fi show returns to our screens next year.
Eccleston, star of Flesh and Blood and The Second Coming, will be the TV time lord in the 13-part BBC1 series to be shown in 2005.
The BBC said the Salford-born 40-year-old would take the famous doctor into the 21st century in a "fresh and modern approach" involving travelling through time and space and fighting monsters on all fronts.
Writer Russell T Davies said:
"This man can give the Doctor a wisdom, wit and emotional range as far-reaching as the Doctor's travels in time and space."
