‘Doctor Who’ Set For At Least Five More Years Says Showrunner Steven Moffat

Doctor Who fans, or Whovians, as they’re more commonly known, will be happy to hear the show is sticking around for at least five more years. In an interview with Doctor Who magazine, executive producer Steven Moffat confirmed the series is in no danger of being cancelled before then.

Doctor Who first broadcast in 1963 and went off the air in 1989. Almost two decades later, the sci-fi show got a reboot and made a comeback in March, 2005. Moffat, who took over the reins from Russell T. Davies in 2009, told Doctor Who magazine he thought it would last ten years. Now he’s confident it will last at least fifteen years, if not longer.

Ben Stephenson, the BBC’s head of drama, said he thinks Doctor Who could even last another fifty years. “As long as the people looking after it are passionate about it… there’s absolutely no reason why it can’t do another 50 years,” Stephenson said.

When Moffat spoke about Doctor Who in his interview with the magazine, it becomes obvious how much passion he has for the series. He acknowledged it takes work to keep the show interesting and up to the standards Whovians have come to expect, but he’s looking forward to carrying on.

“I thought it would last ten years. I didn’t think it would last ten years with BBC Worldwide trying to get me in a room to talk about their plan for the next five years! It’s going to do a minimum of 15. I mean, it could do 26! That’s not to say it’s easy. It’s not easy to find new people. It’s not easy to find new Doctors. That could be the danger – that you start to think that it’s easy. There’s nothing easy about doing Doctor Who.”

Surprisingly enough, ratings for Doctor Who over the last ten years have stayed consistent. Moffat said when he took over from Davies back in 2009, BBC warned him the ratings would most likely take a noticeable dip; however, that didn’t turn out to be the case.

Moffat said, “Ten years on, our ratings are pretty much the same. Actually, internationally, bigger. No show does that! You’re meant to go down! Doctor Who just stays. It’s extraordinary!”

Entertainment Weekly reports this past season of Doctor Who, with Peter Capaldi starring as the Doctor, was the most popular yet in the U.S. with an average of 2.3 million viewers.

Moffat also is in charge of the BBC show Sherlock, and recently let fans of both shows know there won’t be a crossover happening anytime soon.

What do you think of Doctor Who sticking around for five more years?

[Photo by Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images]