Christopher Eccleston is the man credited with bringing Doctor Who to a new generation, but while he was fighting daleks and saving the world he was going through a secret battle of his own.
The actor, 55, has revealed he battled anorexia, which got so bad it almost drove him to suicide.
He describes himself as a "lifelong body-hater" in his forthcoming autobiography I Love The Bones Of You.
Christopher, who played the Time Lord for one series in 2005, reveals he contemplated throwing himself under a train following the end of his marriage in 2015.
He writes: "Many times I've wanted to reveal that I’m a lifelong anorexic and dysmorphic.
"I never have. I always thought of it as a filthy secret, because I'm Northern, because I'm male and because I'm working class."
The dad-of-two split from his wife Mischka and was diagnosed with clinical depression.
It was during the filming of hit BBC show The A Word that he begun contemplating suicide.
He continued: "I was in a state of extreme anxiety, convinced I was either going to die or I was going to kill myself.
"In my despair I reached for my phone and looked up a psychiatric hospital, I rang ahead, grabbed my bag and ran."
Christopher became convinced that he was going to die when he was in his hospital bed.
His road to recovery begun when he was diagnosed and prescribed antidepressants.
He said: "I am on them to this day. I could be on them for the rest of my days. I do have an issue with that.
"I would like to attempt slowly to reduce the dose, to experience reality again, to see how I do…
"And yet, interestingly I have received some of the best reviews of my life since I started taking them.
I Love The Bones Of You is out on September 19
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