Iconic and legendary British actor, Bill Nighy,  has confirmed he turned down the chance to star in Doctor Who.

Back in 2005 in the lead up to the Russell T.Davies revival of the epic sci-fi show, the rumour mill went into overdrive trying discover which star would be land the leading Time Lord Role, with Bill Nighy’s being top of the list, with several media sources even claiming that he had already been cast.

The role eventually went to Christopher Eccleston, but now that Nighy has retired, he has come out and confirmed that the role of Doctor Who was indeed offered to him, and that he turned it down!

Speaking to The people, Nighy said:  “I was offered the role once, I won’t tell you when because the rule is that you’re not allowed to say you turned that job down because it’s disrespectful to whoever did it. I will say that I was approached. But I didn’t want to be the Doctor. No disrespect to Doctor Who or anything. I just think that it comes with too much baggage.”

Eccleston played the part of the 9th Doctor from 2005 when the show relaunched, and remained in the show for a series before handing over the reigns to 10th Doctor, David Tennant, who remained in the role till 2010.

Since turning down the job, Nighy – who starred alongside Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest as Davy Jones, has appeared in the Doctor Who series, making a cameo in a 2010 episode entitled Vincent and the Doctor, where he appeared, uncredited, as Doctor Black opposite current Doctor Who, Matt Smith.

Watch Nighy in action in Vincent and the Doctor in the clip below: