The Doctor with the second-shortest run in Doctor Who history has been said to be a fan of the current Doctor.

Oh, regenerations make my head hurt.

Christopher Eccleston, who played the ninth incarnation of the time-travelling alien for one season in 2005, is reportedly a fan of actor Matt Smith, who plays the Doctor's eleventh incarnation. Smith, who assumed the role earlier this year after the departure of Tenth Doctor actor David Tennant, has appeared as the Doctor for one series and will return for a second series next year, in addition to a Christmas special airing in December.

Davy Jones -- not the demonic seaman of lore but rather a make-up artist for Doctor Who -- has claimed that Eccleston was a fan of Smith's stage work before Smith was even cast as the Doctor. He even got a chance to tell the Who star that Eccleston was a fan, Jones told Scyfilove.

"[Matt] came over to me when I was applying the make-up and said it looked fantastic, and we got chatting," he explained. "I was able to tell him that I had been talking to Chris Eccleston recently, who said he'd seen Matt in a couple of plays and thought he was a great choice for Doctor Who. [Matt] was quite blown over to hear that Chris thought he was good."

Jones, who most recently worked on the episodes "The Hungry Earth" and "Cold Blood" for the most recent series of the show, also worked with Eccleston during the show's return in 2005.

Smith has already cemented that he will be playing the role of the Doctor for a longer run than Eccleston, who portrayed the Doctor for thirteen episodes of the series before paving the way for David Tennant, who has arguably become the most iconic Doctor of the series. Tennant himself played the role for three seasons and a multitude of specials.

Smith will return as the Doctor in the upcoming Christmas special of the series, which is slated to air on -- believe it or not -- Christmas day.