Who News: Steven Moffat On 11th Doctor's Future

Doctor Who's showrunner reassures us Matt Smith is here to stay!
There've been numerous rumours these past few days that Matt Smith's future on Doctor Who has been thrown into question by the announcement that he will star in Ryan Gosling's new US movie How To Catch A Monster. Rightly, fans and critics have been wondering whether Smith's days are numbered on the BBC science-fiction show, but Steven Moffat has this weekend clarified on the actor's status here.

The Who showrunner confirmed at a BFI screening of Second Doctor story The Tomb Of The Cybermen that Matt is "not going" after the 50th Anniversary Special. Instead, Matt will film the majority of that hour-long special adventure in the entirety of April, then How To Catch A Monster in May and early June. Once he's done on production for Gosling's flick, Smith will then return to film the remainder of the Doctor Who anniversary adventure and the 2013 Christmas Special. Yep, we've had it announced from the Moff himself that we'll have another hour-long special to look forward to less than a month after the 50th Anniversary celebrations come to light (expect loads more live events to surrounding the Anniversary special and the Mark Gatiss biopic An Adventure In Time And Space!). Expect the Christmas Special in particular to look ahead to the future of Doctor Who beyond 2013, with Season Eight virtually confirmed.

And what is the future? I'd guess that Season Eight will air over the course of late 2014 and early 2015, with Season Nine then to follow in late 2015 after the celebrations of the tenth anniversary of Doctor Who's 2005 return kick off. At the very least, we'll have another full season of episodes to look forward to, but unless the show starts failing to be a big BBC success, don't expect it to go anywhere soon. Matt will probably stay on for Season Eight Part One, with the mid-season cliffhanger likely to be his regeneration as 2014 will mark his fifth full year in the role, a longer time than even David Tennant spent as his Doctor.

Doctor Who returns to BBC1 on Saturday March 30th for a new season of anniversary blockbuster adventures.