Doctor Who's Steven Moffat: UNIT would be ‘obvious choice’ for spin-off
Russell T Davies has confirmed that spin-offs are on their way.
Returning Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has teased that we've got spin-offs to look forward to and, with Tales of the TARDIS recently gracing our screens, we can't wait for everything else in store.
But what exactly could they be? Fans certainly have their theories, and now former showrunner Steven Moffat has weighed in with his own, suggesting that there's one "obvious" choice.
"It's tough with spin-offs of Doctor Who," he exclusively tells RadioTimes.com. "I like them, I always have a slight suspicion that the thing that's best about Doctor Who is that Doctor Who's in it. You don't improve a Doctor Who by taking Doctor Who out of it - said the writer of Blink!
"So I don't know. There's loads of things you can do, there's loads of ideas in Doctor Who that are good enough for their own show, that's the truth. The obvious one is UNIT - why did no one just do UNIT?
"I was always half-tempted to do Jenny and Vastra solving crimes in Victorian London with big swords, I thought that would be quite fun. I never got round to it because I was kind of busy."
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Moffat adds: "My favourite one they've done so far was The Sarah Jane Adventures because it did the thing you actually have to do, which is address a slightly different audience.
"Doctor Who is kind of a children's programme but [SJA] was definitely a children's programme, of a kind that we sort of don't make anymore, which I think we should, and so I thought that was lovely.
"But I'm sure whatever Russell comes up with will be exactly the right idea."
Davies recently confirmed that more Doctor Who spin-offs are coming, telling GQ that the show is entering its "next stage".
He said: "So I thought – with no criticism whatsoever towards the people who were running it at the time, because they were running it within the BBC's measures – it was time for the next stage for Doctor Who.
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"I thought the streaming platforms are ready, the spin-offs are ready; I always believed in spin-offs when I was there. I did Torchwood as a spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures as a spin-off.
"Those spin-offs declined when I left, and I can see why. And I very much left after 2008, when the money became scarce. I think that's fair enough for the public service broadcaster that the money is spent on other things."
Doctor Who is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Classic episodes are available on BritBox – you can sign up for a 7-day free trial here.
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Authors
Louise Griffin is the Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor for Radio Times, covering everything from Doctor Who, Star Wars and Marvel to House of the Dragon and Good Omens. She previously worked at Metro as a Senior Entertainment Reporter and has a degree in English Literature.
