Ever since Paul McGann reprised his role as the romantic and quite dashing Eighth Doctor in the exciting Doctor Who 50th-anniversary minisode “The Night of the Doctor,” fans have been clamoring for more Eighth Doctor adventures.

The minisode took everyone by surprise (it was all kept really hush-hush) when it was released back in November of last year — and what a brilliant surprise it was! — since McGann had not stepped into the TARDIS ever since his one and only appearance as the beloved Time Lord in the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie (let's admit it, the flick was mediocre, but McGann was absolutely wonderful). It also finally revealed how the Eighth Doctor actually regenerated into John Hurt’s War Doctor, and not into Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston, as one would have expected.

So, the fans want him back, but what does the main man himself have to say about it? Well, you guys, Paul McGann is not very optimistic that it’ll happen.

In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine issue 472 out in the U.K., the former Eighth Time Lord said:

"Of course I'd be super enthusiastic if I got a similar offer. I'd be crazy not to be. I really loved doing it. But that was the first phone call - or any kind of contact - that I'd had since '96 from anyone associated with Doctor Who. You have to see it from my perspective. I don't expect the phone to ring. Why should I?"

McGann — who recently gushed over Peter Capaldi as the Twelfth Doctor — went on further and spoke a bit about him returning for a possible spinoff of some kind. Here's what the British thespian had to say:

"You know what? I don't expect to ever to be involved again. But I expect I’ll be surprised one day by something. That's what Doctor Who's about. I expect to be surprised. You can never say never with this thing. But it would have to be of the same heart and magnitude, and proper, and true. I wouldn't want to run away with the rights and make my own spin-off. You're either in the Doctor Who family… or you aren't."

Well ... 2016 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Doctor Who movie, and the birth of the Eighth Doctor. Can we at least have hope for an encore then?

What do you guys think? Do you believe, like Paul McGann, that the actor won't be back as the Eighth Doctor on Doctor Who? Is that something you'd want to see?

(via Radio Times)