Former 'Doctor Who' Showrunner Believes in the Series’ Return

In an interview with Doctor Who Magazine, Steven Moffat spoke about the future of Doctor Who after the BBC announced that it will put the production out to tender later this year. The former showrunner, responsible for the Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi eras and writer of classic episodes such as "Blink," "The Empty Child," and "The Doctor Dances," sounded optimistic about the process.

"There will be a lot of production companies excited by the idea of making Doctor Who," said Moffat. "This is just a guess, but I think a huge number of them will be thinking, 'Wow. If we had Doctor Who in our catalog, that would be incredible.'" He noted, however, that producing the series is a year-round job, which prevents teams from dedicating themselves to other projects, and that only large, prestigious production companies would have the capacity to take it on.

Moffat was also asked about the possibility of a full reboot of the franchise, an idea recently championed by another writer from the series, Paul Magrs. For the former showrunner, that would be a mistake. "I think it's a bad idea," he explained. "And it's not just because I'm obsessed with continuity or because I'm a hardcore fan. It would require more explanation than a soft reboot. Normally, when you reboot something, you can tell it's a reboot. On Sherlock, I didn't need to explain that Benedict Cumberbatch wasn't continuing Jeremy Brett's work, because it's a different actor. You don't expect Daniel Craig to continue Pierce Brosnan's story. With a new actor, you instantly reset and say, 'We're starting over, it's a new version.'"

The problem, according to Moffat, is that on Doctor Who an actor change doesn't work that way. "With Doctor Who, the fact that it's a new actor tells you absolutely nothing, so most people watching casually will simply assume, 'Oh, it's the next version of Doctor Who, he's changed again.' Then they'll ask, 'Why doesn't he know the Daleks?' And that's when the confusion starts. You'd have to keep reminding the audience: 'We started over from scratch again.'" He also ruled out the worst possible option: starting with the Doctor stealing the TARDIS and fleeing Gallifrey. "That's a terrible beginning for Doctor Who," he said.

The tender process is still in its early stages, with the BBC promising to publish the calls for bids by the end of the year. Moffat believes some studios may already be making informal proposals to gauge the broadcaster's interest.