Christopher Eccleston: I prefer working with female directors

Christopher Eccleston prefers to work with female directors.

The 58-year-old actor has revealed that he relishes working with female directors because they create a "safer" working environment.

Christopher - who is perhaps best known for playing the ninth incarnation of the Doctor on 'Doctor Who' - shared: "I have a 90-year-old mum and she's guided my life entirely. I've always been drawn to working with female directors and theatre … I've always found it a more playful environment, a safer environment.

"Patriarchy cocks everybody up. It did its damage to me as well, you know. So, having a daughter of nine, I've been seeing the world through her lens, and I certainly feel, for instance, my mum's called Elsie, she's 90.

"My daughter's called Esme, she's nine. The world Esme is going into is so much better in terms of equality than it was for my mum. So, it's nice to see that."

Christopher has actually encouraged his daughter to try her hand at directing and producing.

The actor is determined to ensure that she learns some lessons from his own career, if she decides to follow him into the entertainment industry.

Christopher told Sky News: "My daughter, I've told her that she must run the National Theatre. I said if she wants to act, she's got to direct and produce as well.

"Because what I understood, you know, if I had my time again, being a working-class person, I would go for a position of power rather than just acting. So, I've said to her, she must run the National Theatre or be prime minister.

"You don't just want to be an actor. That's particularly if you're a woman, you need to produce direct, and I think she will probably do it."