{"id":22599,"date":"2022-09-25T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2022-09-25T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1711619"},"modified":"2022-09-25T10:17:26","modified_gmt":"2022-09-25T08:17:26","slug":"steven-moffat-doubts-doctor-who-return-its-quite-recent-for-me","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/steven-moffat-doubts-doctor-who-return-its-quite-recent-for-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Moffat doubts Doctor Who return: \u201cIt\u2019s quite recent for me\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Sunday, 25 September 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

Former Doctor Who<\/a> showrunner Steven Moffat has suggested it\u2019s too soon for him to return to the series \u2013 even to write a single episode.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Moffat told RadioTimes.com<\/a> that he has no plans to follow Russell T Davies in one day returning to the showrunner role on the BBC sci-fi drama.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done that,\u201d he said in April. \u201cI have done it and I did it a lot. So no offence and no disrespect and certainly no disdaining of wonderful memories. But no, I will not be showrunning Doctor Who again.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a new interview to promote his upcoming BBC thriller Inside Man<\/a>, the BAFTA-winning writer again insisted he has no desire to take up his old post again, admitting that he was \u201ctired\u201d and \u201csurviving episode-to-episode\u201d by the end of his original run as head writer and executive producer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m delighted Russell\u2019s taking it over again,\u201d Moffat said. \u201cI\u2019m not going to do that. I\u2019m not lying! I\u2019m thoroughly enjoying having more freedom than I had.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I loved that job to bits, but it was relentless. It was at the same time as Sherlock and, for a moment there, those were the two shows in that area that were massive. They were massive. So they both needed to be thought about every single day. And by the time I did my sixth and last season of Doctor Who \u2013 which was two beyond what I had planned to do \u2013 I was surviving episode-to-episode. I was tired.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved it. I loved every aspect of that job, but I will not be returning to it, no.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

One rumour doing the rounds as anticipation builds for Doctor Who\u2019s 60th anniversary<\/a> in 2023 was that Moffat might be returning not as showrunner but as a writer-for-hire, penning one or several new episodes. Asked directly about that possibility, he again suggested it was unlikely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s quite recent for me. Russell\u2019s had a long gap. He\u2019s had a very long gap, actually \u2013 all of me, and I was there for ages, and then Chris [Chibnall]. He had a massive, long gap and I think he\u2019s genuinely reinvigorated. I\u2019ve read the scripts and they\u2019re fantastic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it feels like yesterday. It feels like yesterday that I wrote Doctor Who.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It was announced back in September 2021 that Davies, who had previously served as Doctor Who showrunner from 2005 to 2010, would be returning to the show for its 60th celebrations and beyond<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
David Tennant as Harry Watling in Inside Man<\/span><\/figcaption> BBC\/Hartswood\/Paul Stephenson<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Though Moffat, who succeeded Davies from 2010 to 2017, isn\u2019t intending to eventually follow suit, he made it clear that he remains a loyal fan of the series. In fact, during filming of his new show Inside Man, Moffat and series star David Tennant \u201ctalked about Doctor Who constantly\u201d and even indulged in a fan-favourite pastime on set.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were both playing that game where you slide the Doctor\u2019s faces<\/a>. He was very excited when he finally managed to get a Matt Smith, which is the second time he\u2019s turned his face into Matt Smith.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Inside Man, a four-part drama, follows a small-town vicar (Tennant), a death row inmate (Stanley Tucci), a teacher (Dolly Wells) and a journalist (Lydia West) as their lives are surprisingly and inexorably drawn together.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n