Doctor Who's Steven Moffat sparks speculation with season 15 finale hint

He told TV Choice magazine that while he hasn't read the season 14 finale, "bizarrely enough, I have read the finale of the following season – for reasons that will become apparent… he said cryptically!"

Moffat suggested in the same interview that this Christmas could be the last time he writes for Doctor Who – so what on earth could those reasons be?! We've definitely got some theories.

One theory is that showrunner Russell T Davies wants to bring back a monster or a character that Moffat created, and wants his input on how this should happen.

Of course, Moffat is known as one of Doctor Who's most iconic monster makers, creating some of the most chilling villains in the show's history so there would be any number to choose from, including the Weeping Angels, who last returned during Chris Chibnall's era, the Silence, or even Michelle Gomez's Missy, one of the previous iterations of the Master.

Davies has confirmed that the Master is "parked" for now and has made it clear that, at least for the near future, he'd like to focus on new monsters and villains rather than bringing back old favourites – but is the 2025 finale far enough away to bring back a familiar foe?

It also could be character based. Is there a specific character Moffat is giving his input on in the upcoming season? We know at least one new character, played by Varada Sethu, will appear in season 15 – could he have something to do with her?

One other theory is that Moffat isn't being entirely truthful about not writing any more Doctor Who after his 50th episode, which will air this Christmas.

It's clear that the former showrunner still has plenty of ideas about what could happen in future episodes of Doctor Who, and has spoken about how often he and Davies bounce ideas off of each other. It seems unlikely for him to fully rule out a return in future.

Perhaps Moffat could even return on a more regular basis after the season 15 finale, so he needs to know what's coming up. Years ago, we would have said it was madness for a showrunner to return for round two but Davies proved that nothing is impossible when it comes to Doctor Who when he confirmed his return.

While season 16 of Doctor Who has not yet been confirmed, Davies has said that writing is already in progress.

He also confirmed that there are active plans for spin-offs in place – could Moffat be penning one of these? It would certainly make sense for him as a writer who knows the show so well, and would mean he's technically telling the truth about not writing any more Doctor Who.

Moffat previously chatted to RadioTimes.com about the prospect of spin-offs, saying that a UNIT-based show would be an "obvious choice".

Whatever the extent of his involvement, we'll be thinking about that cryptic hint full time for the next year. In the meantime though, we've got Moffat's latest contribution to the Whoniverse to look forward to!

Recently chatting to Radio Times magazine, Moffat said of Boom: "Doctor Who doesn't often do that tension.

"You might think it does. It does scary, it does funny, action, even musicals. But not tension or suspense. And that's in part because no character switches off suspense like the Doctor, because he comes in, makes a joke and defeats the enemy, every single time.

“So to make him the focus of the jeopardy, and to have him on a knife edge where one wrong move and he literally blows everything up – I just thought that was a new thing for me to do."

He added: "It’s quite an about-face. If you've seen the first two episodes [of this series], this will arrive like a bloody shock, I'll tell you. It's quite different! But that's the nature of the beast."

Doctor Who continues with Steven Moffat's Boom on 18th May on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

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