Who News: Steven Moffat On The Future

The Time Lord returns this November- but what can we expect from his next adventures? Steven Moffat teases fans...
The BBC Proms and ComicCon are just around the corner now, promising new Doctor Who surprises for fans everywhere, and to get the ball rolling, showrunner Steven Moffat has been discussing what we can expect from the next episodes of the show. We know that in November, there's the 50th Anniversary Special, the Mark Gatiss docudrama An Adventure In Space And Time, a special edition of The Culture Show, an audio drama chronicling the First Doctor and Susan's escape from Gallifrey and so much more to celebrate the big day, yet Moffat goes further than this, taking us on a brief yet intriguing look-ahead to days beyond the 50th.

Here's our round-up of Steven's interview with Entertainment Weekly, an ambiguous while equally revealing set of hints in terms of days yet to come...

• ON THE TWELFTH DOCTOR ANNOUNCEMENT- "Unless we have an insane plan, we'll announce a new Doctor within days of finalizing the new Doctor. Because it's very very hard to keep any kind of a secret. But I think we'll go public pretty fast."
• ON MATT'S DEPARTURE- "We discussed ages ago that we would do three series and then he would do the 50th and then he'd do Christmas. That was Plan A for a very, very long while. We went out for lunch, when he said that he'd come close to doing another series but it was the same argument: "If I do another series, I might do two more series, or three more series. I think I might never leave." It's part of the DNA of the programme, that there is going to be a new Doctor now and then."
• ON THE REGENERATION- "It'll be the traditional regeneration. You know, the Eleventh will fall and the Twelfth shall rise. And you'll see that in the closing moments of the show. Quite honestly what could be better than that? It's just too exciting."
• ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL- "I can tell you very, very little. It will feature of course Matt and Jenna Coleman, but in addition there'll be Billie Piper and David Tennant and John Hurt. But we've been really quite careful. We have a philosophy that anything we shot outside we had to own up to but the rest of it...You're just going to have to wait until November to find out about!"
• ON THE LENGTH OF THE 50TH SPECIAL- "It's a special episode. I think you could call it movie-length, yeah. I mean, I'm saying that with a slight hint of vagueness because I don't know the running time. It's certainly well over an hour."
• ON MATT AND DAVID- "They really loved each other and had a huge laugh together. They've been through this experience that only the two of them can talk about, really- they are the two people that have played that character in a time when the series is this big. This is very different from Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton, but it's a sublime double act."
• ON JOHN HURT- "He's terrific. It's a lovely 50th Anniversary treat, I suppose. You get a whole new Doctor played by a proper screen legend."
• ON MARK GATISS' DOCUDRAMA- "It's gorgeous. It's a very, very different celebration of Doctor Who."
• ON HIS FUTURE WITH DOCTOR WHO- "I think a year at a time. I've signed up for this next year, with this new Doctor. It's one of those jobs when you know when you've had enough. At the moment I haven't had enough and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I'm very excited about establishing that new Doctor. So, no plans to leave as of yet. But that doesn't mean I'l be here for 20 years. There will come that day when I think it's time someone else had a go."
• ON SERIES EIGHT'S POTENTIAL SUMMER 2014 PREMIERE- "I think that's probably right. But these things change so often."

Expect more details on the 50th Anniversary Special, the 2013 Christmas Special and Series Eight in the coming days. As per usual, keep it On-Screen for the latest and greatest Doctor Who reveals as they come...

Doctor Who returns with its blockbuster 50th Anniversary Special on November 23rd on BBC One.