Moffat to leave Doctor Who

The BBC confirmed late last night that Steven Moffat, Doctor Who‘s current showrunner and executive producer, is to step down from his role after series ten.

After writing episodes for the hit sci-fi show back in 2006 for David Tennant’s tenth Doctor, Moffat has been a part of the Who community for many years and debuted as head writer in 2010, following the exit of Russell T Davies. After series ten, which is to be aired in the spring of 2017, Broadchurch writer and life-long Doctor Who fan Chris Chibnall will be handed the keys to the TARDIS in what will be a whole new era of the show.

Mr Moffat, who is also one of the executive producers of BBC’s Sherlock, has said he “will be thrown in a skip” after his departure – many on Twitter agreeing with him. Users have been tweeting the ‘#MoffatLeavingParty’ hashtag to express their gratitude for the man behind ‘The Husbands of River Song’ quitting his job.

Speaking of his decision to quit, Moffat had this to say: “[It] feels odd to be talking about leaving when I’m just starting work on the scripts for season 10, but the fact is my timey-wimey is running out. While Chris is doing his last run of Broadchurch, I’ll be finishing up on the best job in the universe and keeping the TARDIS warm for him. It took a lot of gin and tonic to talk him into this, but I am beyond delighted that one of the true stars of British Television drama will be taking the Time Lord even further into the future. At the start of season 11, Chris Chibnall will become the new showrunner of Doctor Who. And I will be thrown in a skip.”