Steven Moffat Teases Doctor Who's Future

We get a few more hints on Series Seven and what lies beyond...
It's a fair assessment to say that Doctor Who is undergoing something of a golden age right now, having reached its seventh season with barely a scratch on its bonnet and still showing no signs of slowing down. Testament to that was Steven Moffat's winning the Special Writer's BAFTA for 2012. Off the back of this, the Moff has started chatting some more about what the future holds for the show he so valiantly helms...

• ON JENNA-LOUISE'S FILMING DEBUT: "It's so exciting- Jenna is wonderful and spiky and salty and clever. As Doctor Who always does, it's becoming a different show. I'm thrilled with her and I think everyone else will be too."
• ON HOW THE NEW COMPANION CHANGES WHO: "It makes you look at the Doctor differently, and it just makes the whole show feel different. It's like it is a new beginning, back to Chapter One. There's someone new getting to know the Doctor. This time it's Jenna's character. There are many ways it will be different to usual, but I'm not telling you what they are!"
• ON THE SHOW'S FUTURE: "[The series] is definitely not getting shorter, we're just splitting it over Christmas, that's all. We're making the same number of episodes as usual, I can tell that much by the grey hairs on my head! We delayed it by a few months, that's all that's happened. There's not a chance of the BBC giving up on Doctor Who. Quite honestly, they wouldn't be allowed to- it's a huge money spinner doing better than ever, not just in the UK. The number of people watching it abroad's going up- it was the most downloaded show on US iTunes in 2011!"

For fans, it will surely be good to know that the Moff is confident the Beeb will keep Who on air for many years to come. This confidence also seems to indicate Steven will return to helm Series Eight in late 2013 and early 2014, which will mean he's spent at least five years on the show just as Russell did- will S8 prove his swansong, then, or will the good times just go on and on? Only time will tell...Doctor Who returns in August.