Steven Moffat will stay on for Series 37 / 11

Steven Moffat won't be leaving "Doctor Who" as showrunner quite yet at the end of the upcoming series 10.

"I’ve got so much more time left on ‘Doctor Who," he said at a press roundtable during New York Comic Con on Friday. — I'm not just doing this Christmas, I'm doing next Christmas as well.”

Moffat's had a long run with the BBC series, where he began as a writer when it was revived in 2005 then took over as showrunner from Russell T. Davies in 2010. He'd previously been announced as handing over showrunning duties to Chris Chibnall ("Broadchurch") after the 10th season, which will start airing in April.

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Peter Capaldi to leave Doctor Who in 2017?

BBC bosses expect Peter Capaldi to leave Doctor Who after the next series – when writer Steven Moffat also steps down.

The 57-year-old’s tenure as the 12th Doctor is likely to end in 2017. When new chief Chris Chibnall, who created Broadchurch, begins a new era in series 11, it is thought he will also get to choose his own Time Lord. A source on the BBC show said: “Bosses are already discussing a fresh start when Steven leaves."

“They’ve been happy with what Peter has brought to the role but some think it might make sense to give Chris his own choice of actor to play the Doctor. They hope he will be able to find someone who can have the same impact as Matt Smith did when Steven Moffat kicked off his run as executive producer.”

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Steven Moffat QUITS as Doctor Who showrunner

Steven Moffat has decided that his “timey wimey” as showrunner of Doctor Who has come to an end and he will step down as the show’s lead writer and executive producer after six series at the helm, RadioTimes.com can reveal.

Moffatt will hand over the keys to the TARDIS at the end of the next series in 2017 to Broadchurch writer and Doctor Who fan Chris Chibnall.

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BBC1 has decided to air Moffat’s final 12-part series - the 10th of the modern era - in spring 2017. Chibnall’s debut series as head writer and executive producer will launch in 2018.

A Christmas special WILL air this year overseen by Moffat, though it is unclear whether Peter Capaldi’s new companion will feature. The companion, who will replace Jenna Coleman's Clara Oswald, will definitely be in place for the spring 2017 series, say BBC sources.

Explaining the decision to hold Moffat’s last series until next year, BBC1 controller Charlotte Moore said: “I have decided to schedule Steven’s big finale series in Spring 2017 to bring the nation together for what will be a huge event on the channel. 2016 is spoilt with national moments including the Euros and Olympics and I want to hold something big back for 2017 - I promise it will be worth the wait!”

It is unclear if the plan is now to make Doctor Who a series which regularly begins its runs in the spring when Chibnall becomes showrunner. “That is all to be decided,” said a BBC source, who pointed out that it began airing in the spring when it was relaunched by Russell T Davies in 2005.

Moffat said of his decision to quit: “Feels odd to be talking about leaving when I’m just starting work on the scripts for season 10, but the fact is my timey-wimey is running out. While Chris is doing his last run of Broadchurch, I’ll be finishing up on the best job in the universe and keeping the TARDIS warm for him. It took a lot of gin and tonic to talk him into this, but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British Television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future. At the start of season 11, Chris Chibnall will become the new showrunner of Doctor Who. And I will be thrown in a skip.”

Moore, who next month takes over a super controller’s job at the BBC, paid tribute to Moffat and welcomed Chibnall into the Doctor Who fold. 

“I want to thank Steven Moffat for everything he has given Doctor Who – I’ve loved working with him, he is an absolute genius and has brought fans all over the world such joy,” she added. “I will be very sad to see him leave the show but I can’t wait to see what he will deliver in his last ever series next year with a brand new companion. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Chris Chibnall, a wonderfully talented writer who I know will bring something very special to the hit series.”

Like Moffat, Chibnall is also a lifelong Doctor Who fan and a multi-award winning writer and executive producer. He has most recently achieved success with the triple BAFTA winning hit ITV series Broadchurch. His other credits include BAFTA nominated The Great Train Robbery, United, Law & Order: UK, Life on Mars and Torchwood.

He said: "Doctor Who is the ultimate BBC programme: bold, unique, vastly entertaining, and adored all around the world.  So it's a privilege and a joy to be the next curator of this funny, scary and emotional family drama. I’ve loved Doctor Who since I was four years old, and I’m relishing the thought of working with the exceptional team at BBC Wales to create new characters, creatures and worlds for the Doctor to explore.  Steven’s achieved the impossible by continually expanding Doctor Who's creative ambition, while growing its global popularity. He’s been a dazzling and daring showrunner, and hearing his plans and stories for 2017, it’s clear he’ll be going out with a bang. Just to make my life difficult."

Polly Hill, BBC controller of drama commissioning, added: “Like Charlotte I would like to thank Steven for his brilliance, which has made Doctor Who a global hit under his tenure.  Chris Chibnall is the perfect successor to take over the reins of this incredible show, so I am delighted that his love for Doctor Who has made it impossible for him to resist !  Chris is an incredible writer and his vision and passion for Doctor Who gives it an exciting future and promises to be a real treat for Doctor Who fans across the world.”  

(Source Radio Times)

Steven Moffat Finally Confirms The Doctor Can And Should Be A Woman

Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has finally admitted out loud, that the Doctor not only can be a woman, but that the character's next reincarnation may finally see this monumental (and long overdue) change. 

Photo: Jacklyn Black Cosplay.

Moffat confirmed that "gender itself is fluid for the residents of Gallifrey, something effectively proven by this past season, when the Master's new form was revealed to have had switched genders, and the Doctor was not shocked by the change (he was shocked by the fact the Master had survived and had weaponized the dead and pretty much everything else she'd done, but not the gender swap). As Moffat told Wales Online: "He doesn't seem to register the fact that his old friend is now a woman. So obviously, he doesn't think it's a remarkable thing to happen. We must assume that gender is quite fluid on Gallifrey."

 Moffat told SFX:

"There easily could be a female Doctor. I think the next time might be a female Doctor. I don't see why not. I think it's good to do that."

Moffat went on to say that he didn't want to do any more speculation about the next Doctor, because Peter Capaldi is doing a tremendous in the role. 

(Source Doctor Who TV)

The Doctor and River Song Reunite For A Spectacular Christmas

Alex Kingston returns to Cardiff to reclaim her role as Professor River Song for the highly anticipated 2015 Doctor Who Christmas special, part of BBC One’s essential seasonal viewing.

 

It’s Christmas Day in the future and the TARDIS is parked on a snowy village street, covered in icicles, awaiting its next adventure. Time traveller River Song meets her husband’s new incarnation, in the form of Peter Capaldi, for the first time this Christmas.

Day one of filming the eleventh Doctor Who Christmas special starts this week and is written by Lead Writer and Executive Producer, Steven Moffat, produced by Nikki Wilson and directed by Douglas Mackinnon (Doctor Who, Sherlock).

River Song made her first Doctor Who appearance in 2008 in ‘Silence in the Library’ and ‘Forest of the Dead’ and has appeared in 15 episodes to date.

Award winning Alex Kingston comments on her reappearance, “To be honest, I did not know whether River would ever return to the show, but here she is, back with the Doctor for the Christmas special. Steven Moffat is on glittering form, giving us an episode filled with humour and surprise guest castings. I met Peter for the first time at Monday’s read through, we had a laugh, and I am now excited and ready to start filming with him and the Doctor Who team. Christmas in September? Why not!”

Steven Moffat, Lead Writer and Executive Producer, adds, “Another Christmas, another special for Doctor Who - and what could be more special than the return of Alex Kingston as Professor River Song? The last time the Doctor saw her she was a ghost. The first time he met her, she died. So how can he be seeing her again? As ever, with the most complicated relationship in the universe, it’s a matter of time...”

Steven explains when the meeting of River Song and the Twelfth Doctor takes place:

"It's immediatetly after The Angels Take Manhatten (2012). River’s just seen Matt Smith’s Doctor lose Amy and Rory, and obviously before The Name of the Doctor [2013] because she’s dead in that.”

Speaking of ending things, Steven Moffat also revealed that this might have been his last ever Doctor Who episode: “We’ve just lost Clara, so I didn’t want to go straight into a new companion. I’ll be honest, I brought River Song back in because I thought there was a possibility I’d never write for Doctor Who again so that’d be my goodbye.”

Joining Peter Capaldi and Alex Kingston in this year's Christmas adventure arecomedians Matt Lucas and Greg Davies.

A short synopsis reads as:

It’s Christmas Day on a remote human colony and the Doctor is hiding from Christmas Carols and Comedy Antlers. But when a crashed spaceship calls upon the Doctor for help, he finds himself recruited into River Song’s squad and hurled into a fast and frantic chase across the galaxy. King Hydroflax (Greg Davies) is furious, and his giant Robot bodyguard is out-of-control and coming for them all! Will Nardole (Matt Lucas) survive? And when will River Song work out who the Doctor is?
“All will be revealed on a starliner full of galactic super-villains and a destination the Doctor has been avoiding for a very long time.

The BBC Cymru Wales produced drama will return to BBC One on Saturday, 19 September with a 12 episode series, followed by the Christmas special on Friday 25 December.