Christopher Eccleston joins National Theatre's Antigone

Eccleston, pictured left as he appears in BBC One's The Fuse, will appear alongside Jodie Whittaker

Former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston is to return to the National Theatre for the first time in 20 years in a production of Sophocles' Antigone.

The 47-year-old will play the part of Creon in the drama. Jodie Whittaker, from Venus, St Trinian's and Attack the Block, will take the title role.

Antigone begins previews on 23 May and will be directed by Polly Findlay.

Eccleston - soon to be seen in BBC One thriller The Fuse - last performed at the National in 1990.

That was a production of Abingdon Square. The same year he also starred opposite Sir Ian McKellen in Bent.

Antigone, presented here in a version by Don Taylor, is an ancient Greek tragedy telling of a young woman who defies an edict saying her brother's body cannot be buried.

That brings her into conflict with Creon, a ruler desperate to gain control over a city ravaged by civil war.