Peter Davison has admitted the kissing in Doctor Who nowadays makes him envious.
The actor played the Fifth Doctor from 1981 to 1984 but during his time in the TARDIS the alien character never had any love interests.
Since the BBC sci-fi series returned in 2005 the Doctor has had many romantic interests - the most permanent being the Time Lord's relationship with River Song (Alex Kingston) - and has had several screen kisses, something Peter missed out on in the role.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he said: "I think the idea that there's frisson in the TARDIS is absolutely fine and works very well. I'm rather envious of the number of times that the Doctor gets to kiss girls now!
"I don't know why but during my time they were so obsessive that there should be no flirtation and I think it was part of the reason why they never quite mastered the whole companion idea."
Peter believes the show has benefited from having romantic plot lines as it has added drama to the Doctor's relationship with his companions.
The 62-year-old star believes the character Rose Tyler - who fell in love with the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and was played by Billie Piper - set the benchmark for companions on the series.
He added: "They were struggling for many years to make the companions more rounded characters and ... they never once thought it was a good idea to put any frisson or sexual tension - even in its most innocent form - between the Doctor and companion. I think it would make it easier to write a better character.
"They struggled for many years to write a good companion's part. I don't think they've ever really managed it till Rose when the series came back."
'Doctor Who' will celebrate its 50th anniversary on November 23 with feature-length episode 'The Day of the Doctor' - which will star current Doctor Matt Smith, David, John Hurt, Billie and Jenna-Louise Coleman.
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