Steven Moffat says he still won’t be tempted back to Doctor Who to write a new episode
Exclusive: The former series showrunner has returned to the sci-fi drama’s fold for new short stories and extra scenes, but says he still isn’t keen on writing for the TV series again
While the last few weeks have been full of difficulties, for Doctor Who fans there have been plenty of nice surprises too, most notably the surprise return of ex-showrunners Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, both of whom have penned new short stories, prequels and short online scenes to keep fans of the BBC sci-fi drama entertained.
But despite recently turning in a great short story starring Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor and reminiscing fondly on Twitter about his time in charge, Moffat says his comeback to the Whoniverse doesn’t mean we should expect a screen return – because he’s holding firm on his assurance that he has no more Doctor Who episodes in him.
"It was lovely to get a shot at Jodie," Moffat told RadioTimes.com, "but I think Doctor Who's suffered enough at my hands.
"I've always said, and Russell has always said, I'll come back when there's an emergency. Well what do you call this?
"But no, I think that Doctor Who has to change hands and have new creators, new people involved.
"And remember, I wrote a ton of them!" he laughed. "I think I'm out of ideas. I don't have a single one left."
And in any case, Moffat noted, writing a couple of short pieces to go online isn’t quite the same as committing to the TV production, and generally speaking it didn’t raise too many memories of when he ran the whole show.
"It's not like running Doctor Who, which was a colossal job, at the level that Chris is doing now," he explained. "It doesn't feel like that.
"It just feels like... I mean I'm very familiar with it as a fan, as a viewer and all that. So it wasn't a massive stretch to get back into it to be honest. It was fine. I quite enjoyed it, and I hope people liked it."
Still, who knows? As the coronavirus pandemic continues, we may be able to expect yet more Doctor Who content from Moffat, Davies and other Doctor Who grandees going forward.
And Moffat definitely isn’t ruling out doing another short story… if it was in the right circumstances.
"Oh yes," he laughed. "I’ll do it during the next plague."
You can read Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who story The Terror of the Umpty Ums online now
Doctor Who returns to BBC One in late 2020/early 2021. Want something else to watch sooner? Our full TV Guide is available now
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
